Indiana Associations and State Agencies Forge New Collaborations to Address COVID-19

In a joint statement, 14 Indiana organizations and state government agencies reveal collaborative efforts to help Hoosier communities respond to and recover from COVID-19. 

“The leadership from our collective organizations has been meeting since early in the coronavirus crisis to identify, create, and direct resources to our member organizations,” reads the statement, which was signed by leaders of Accelerate Indiana Municipalities, Association of Indiana Counties, Indiana Association of Regional Councils, Indiana Chamber Executives Association, Indiana Economic Development Association, Indiana Library Federation, Indiana Office of Career Connections and Talent, Indiana Philanthropy Alliance, Indiana Public Health Association, Indiana Tourism Association, Indiana United Ways, Indiana Workforce Development Board Alliance, Prosperity Indiana, and Purdue Extension. “We are committed through our statewide organizations and the hundreds of organizations we represent in our local communities to foster new levels of collaboration that will bring Indiana back from this crisis stronger and better.”

The pandemic changed how many institutions and individuals operate. Multiple organizations in many communities are rewiring their connections to one another to aggressively address food insecurity, workforce development, mental health, childcare, racial justice, education and family challenges. 

“Foundations, nonprofits, restaurants, and hotels have collaborated to care for frontline workers (often the most vulnerable) to help keep them supported and employed,” reads the statement. “Economic developers, chambers of commerce, and local United Ways worked together to create virtual community ‘town halls’ to track and respond to financial, physical, and mental health challenges.”

The statement applauds the innovations by emerging partnerships across sectors and in all areas of the state.

“Our members have served businesses and individuals in their home communities and found new ways to collaborate to ensure, now and for the future, they are better together,” the statement concludes. “In doing this, we wholeheartedly believe this selfless service will lead our members’ communities—and ultimately the state of Indiana—to a better recovery.”

Read the statement in full here.