For Evansville

We can't thank you enough for listening and joining with us this year on the For Evansville Podcast. We're really proud of our work from 2023, and we are also really excited for the ambitious new goals we are setting for 2024 and the years following. In this episode, we talk about our new strategy that will lead toward that ambitious goal and why we think it can make an impact throughout o...

When is the last time you saw the Ohio River? When is the last time you saw it because you were walking by it? As For Evansville seeks to advance human flourishing, we wanted to talk about how a new riverfront project advances human flourishing in Evansville. It’s a lot more complex than you might think. We talk about things like providing equal opportunities to live, work and play by the river, t...

Do you feel restless from the tension between your dreams of what you think the Church could be and the reality of what your church experience is? You're not alone. In our conversation with Tim Soerens, author of Everywhere You Look: Discovering the Church right where you are , we talk about the importance of asking the question, "What is the Church for?" This hopeful and thoughtful...

The Church is and should be a vital part of the community. Its collective impact should be seen and felt by everyone. But as we explored in previous episodes, the stats show that currently isn't the case. So what can we do? In this episode, we want to discuss communication within your church. As our team comes from a Church Communications background, we talk about how everything you say, do, a...

CEO of Leadership Everyone, Lynn Miller Pease discusses the inclusive process of VOICE sessions, where all voices are valued equally, and the importance of diverse perspectives and historical awareness in shaping a brighter future. These sessions collect valuable census-like data as well as the ideas, dreams and visions of participants. This data can be used for a number of amazing things, but you...

71% of Americans have a positive opinion of Jesus, while 47% of Americans have a positive opinion Churches in their community. What's the disconnect? Since our mission is to advance human flourishing through the Church - this stat from the Barna Group really stood out to us. Why don't people have a positive opinion of Churches? What can the Church do about it? What can we do about it? Do o...

Earlier this year, the U.S Surgeon General released a report titled "Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation." Isolation seems like a problem for individuals, but it actually affects every aspect of our community. In this episode, the For Evansville Staff sat down to discuss points in the report we found relevant to our work. We wanted to answer the questions: 1. What can our listeners...

"When you bring people together around food, you create community - you create love." Our guest this week is Robin Mallery, former Executive Director of ⁠Urban Seeds⁠ . Her passion is food. Not just eating it, but bringing food justice into our community. That can mean a lot of different things - so she helps us unpack ideas from seasonal eating to local farmers to fighting for food equa...

Sometimes we hear stories happening in Evansville that we had no idea were happening. So we bring in the people involved to share them with you. This episode is no exception as we sit down with Sergeant Josh Brewer and Officer Mario Reid. They're involved with a number of programs in our community like mental health, homelessness, and addiction. Together they sit down and talk about the idea o...

"If we know our neighbors better, think how much stronger our community would be." - Mayor Winnecke When you have a podcast about being for Evansville, it's pretty much #goals to get the Mayor of Evansville on. Well, we're excited to announce we've achieved our goal with this episode featuring special guest Mayor Lloyd Winnecke. As he wraps up over a decade of service to our...

At For Evansville, we inspire, align, and empower Christians to pursue common good in our city. So what happens when those Christians need to work alongside others that practice different faiths, or don't have a faith at all? Today, we sat down with Zac Parsons from Honey Moon Coffee Co. to talk about pursuing common good together. What does it look like to bring your whole self to something a...

For Evansville has a strong history of uniting the Church for the flourishing of the city. Last year, 81% of Church leaders we surveyed said they began addressing a community need because of For Evansville. 53% said they did so in collaboration with another church. Now we're adopting an even more focused and hands-on approach to advancing human flourishing through the Church. We see this updat...

DeAndre Wilson - Onboarding Manager, Bedford Collab Scott Massey, Founder and CEO, GroPod Rasheedah Ajibade, Chief Program Officer, Memorial Community Development Corporation Serita Cabell, Executive Director, Memorial Community Development Corporation Get connected with Neighborhood Revitalization

"We believe that to be a good, valued member of the community, we can’t just sell pizza. We have to give back. We have to contribute in ways that are tangible and make a difference." In 2021, Evansville voted for Azzip as not only the best pizza in town, but also the best business that gives back. We’re always looking to celebrate and share stories of people and organizations that are fo...

"We're not going to change their life. We're going to give them tools to change their own life." Have you ever noticed that you see homeless men a lot more than homeless women? Yet on any given day, Evansville averages about 300 homeless men and 200 homeless women. Why don't we see them? In this episode, we sit down with Katrinka, the campaign manger for the future Susan H. S...

If you're a parent, grandparent, caretaker or involved with kids in any way, you know Evansville has a child care problem. And the problem is multi-dimensional - lack of child care workers, high prices, high turnover rates, etc. It seems like a reoccurring theme at this point. Almost every guest we have points to early childhood development as the starting point of many issues in our community...

We like to say Evansville is an ecosystem of neighbors. When people struggle, our whole city struggles. In this episode we look at the two systems of Affordable Housing and Education. Beth Folz, the Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity and Sheila Huff, the Director of Strategic Engagement at EVSC discuss how unstable housing affects education and how education affects the perception of the h...

“We want to make a bunch of money and give a bunch of money away.” In this episode, we are joined by the CEO Ben Schmidt, and HR Director Ryan Nunn of CrossPoint Polymer Technologies. They share their heart for valuing every person that works for their company, regardless of their role, position, or background through open communication and mutual respect. But they don’t stop there. They ask their...

"I believe we can change Evansville one relationship at a time."  It's Black History Month, and Evansville is celebrating with a Unity Concert on February 19. We're kicking off Season 3 with an interview with the Unity Concert choir director, James Hamler, and Renew Christian Church's Music and Technology Pastor, Ryan Stapleton.  In this episode, we talk about Gospel music as an art form...

Show notes: Support the Podcast! forevansville.org/podcastpartner Spectrum Dynamic Exhibit: https://emuseum.org/changing-exhibitions/2022-spectrum-dynamic Optimal Rhythms: https://optimalrhythms.org/ Questions or comments for Karen, Casey or our team? Shoot us an email at connect@forevansville.org

Phillip Boyd, Senior Case Manager at the Evansville Rescue Mission, is the perfect person for the job. Having walked through addiction, and continuing long-term recovery, he truly understands the men coming through the doors seeking addiction. In this episode, he shares his story of addiction, recovery, and the people, programs, and collaboration it takes to help people struggling with addiction,...

Did you know Evansville has the number one Kindermusik program in the United States and the second best program in the world? In this episode we sit down with Jeremy Seger, Kindermusik Educator and Board of Directors Chair of The Isaiah 1:17 Project [an initiative to support Foster families] to talk about the importance of connection for children, and how that sets a course towards emotionally hea...

Our State of E Report is here! In this episode, we sit down with John Benton, the Director of Cradle to Career Continuum at Dream Center Evansville and a lover of all things stats and data. It's because of his hard work compiling all the data for us that the report exists. Together, we discuss the overarching themes, what stood out to us, and honestly, what made us cry. We've taken our findings an...

John Benton, director of Cradle-to-Career Continuum at Dream Center shares a story of a tenant and how she views herself and her family based on her circumstances.  What if you judged your neighbors' circumstances in such a way where you were valuing and dignifying all persons? For Evansville's next Imagine Evansville event is September 15, 2022 you can get tickets at forevansville.org/imagin...

"If the school system is healthy and thriving and flourishing, the city will be the same."  Roseyn Hood is the Chief Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Officer for the Evansville School Corporation, and Joann Hunter is the Co-Leader of And How are the Children Evansville.  Together, they sit down with Jonathan to discuss equity among all students in Evansville, and how the comm...