Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations Meeting - June 21, 2025
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Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations Meeting - June 21, 2025
The Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations (MCANA) held its monthly meeting on Saturday, June 21, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at North United Methodist Church in Indianapolis. Pat Andrews presided in place of Kathy Burton. The meeting featured updates from the Mayor's Neighborhood Advocate, a substantive health and policy presentation by Dr. Virginia Kane, and an overview of local public health programs.
Announcements from Mayor's Neighborhood Advocate
Jocelyne Medina, Mayor's Neighborhood Advocate for Area 5 (far northwest, including Pike Township and part of Wayne Township), provided the following city updates:
- Park investments: 17 of 28 playgrounds are being renovated citywide. A $1 million investment at Robie Park is planned, with a public meeting on June 23 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Robie Elementary (8700 West 38th Street).
- Heat advisory: A heat advisory runs from June 21 to June 24. Cooling centers open noon to 6 p.m. at Staley Stratter Park (2050 Bethel Avenue), Broad Ripple Park (1550 Broad Ripple Avenue), Thatcher Park (4949 West Vermont Street), and Indy Island Aquatic Center (8300 East Raymond Street). Pools and splash pads are open; schedules on Indy.gov.
- Trash schedule: After the Juneteenth holiday, Thursday routes moved to Friday, Friday routes are catching up on Saturday, and normal schedule resumes Monday. For issues, call Mayor's Action Center (317-327-4622) or use RequestIndy app.
- IndyGo fare increase: First fare increase in 16 years due to rising fuel, maintenance, and labor costs. Public meetings on June 23 at Southeast Community Services (901 Shelby Street) at 12 p.m. and 6 p.m.
- Blue Line construction: First major closure on Washington Street between North White River Parkway and Belmont Avenue begins on or after June 16, lasting approximately six months. The 24-mile bus rapid transit line from Indianapolis International Airport to Cumberland is scheduled to open in 2028.
- IndyGo schedule adjustments: Minor timing adjustments on Red and Purple lines for improved on-time performance and to accommodate new infrastructure.
Special Guest Speaker: Dr. Virginia Kane
Dr. Virginia Kane delivered a comprehensive presentation covering heat safety, Medicaid cuts, vaccination, and public health. Key points:
- Heat safety: Described three stages of heat illness—heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. Heat stroke is life-threatening with symptoms including throbbing headache, confusion, disorientation, slurred speech, nausea, dizziness, temperature ≥103°F, red/hot skin, rapid strong pulse, and possible loss of consciousness. Urged calling 911, cooling with cold towels, and not giving fluids if disoriented. Warning: fans can worsen overheating if heat index is in the high 90s. Advised staying hydrated, checking on seniors, and never leaving pets in cars or outside.
- Medicaid and federal budget: Noted Indiana faced a $1 billion Medicaid deficit in the prior year. Proposed federal tariffs could increase that to $2.3 billion. Congressional Republicans seek $880 billion in Medicaid cuts over a decade to fund tax cuts. Indiana's Medicaid expansion during COVID added nearly 500,000 Hoosiers, with the federal government covering 90% of costs (vs. 60-70% for traditional Medicaid). Cuts would reduce federal match, potentially causing rural hospital closures (15% of Indiana's rural hospitals are already in significant debt). Emphasized that prevention—screenings, vaccines, primary care—saves money and lives.
- Vaccines and public health: Stated that measles cases dropped from 400,000-500,000 per year pre-vaccine to under 100 after vaccination. Recent measles outbreak in Texas grew to over 700 cases across 31 states, including 8 in Indiana; two children and one adult died. Polio found in New York sewage but contained. Urged community immunity (≥90% vaccination for measles) to protect immunocompromised individuals. Criticized removal of experts from CDC's ACIP committee and noted misinformation as a threat.
- Health workforce: Predicted a shortage of 25,000 physicians by 2030; average medical school debt is $200,000-$250,000. Expressed concern about caps on federal loans for healthcare providers.
Health Department Programs (Kollar)
Kollar, administrator of the Environmental Healthy Homes program (Marion County Public Health Department), presented:
- Lead poisoning prevention: Free lead inspections and blood testing clinics (Thursdays). Highest risk in homes built before 1978 (lead paint), but also new builds on contaminated lots or via antique items. Consumer product testing available.
- Healthy Homes assessments: For asthma, mold, pests, and other environmental triggers. Works with hospitals, provides case management.
- Senior care: Helps older adults age in place by identifying fall risks and home modifications.
- Bed bug assistance: Inspects and educates residents and property owners; works with hotels and apartments. Contact: 317-221-2155.
- General outreach: All services are free. Encouraged residents to call 317-221-2000 for questions about heat, environment, or health.
Key Outcomes and Next Steps
- No formal votes or resolutions were taken.
- Dr. Kane urged attendees to contact their policymakers to protect Medicaid, vaccination programs, and NIH research funding.
- The next MCANA meeting is scheduled for July 19, 2025, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at North United Methodist Church.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. I'm Pat Andrews and this is a Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations meeting. Kathy can't be with us today, but we will carry forward. And I have a statement that she reads. I'm going to summarize it. McCana is an independent 501c3 nonpartisan alliance of neighborhood organization is primarily concerned with broad-based neighborhood issues that do or could impact residential communities of Marion County. Founded in 1990, McCann supports neighborhood empowerment at the grassroots level by providing information, advice, and materials to neighborhood-based organizations. We are a countywide organization and every township has a seat on the campus board of directors. We meet on the third Saturday of every month except December from 9 to 11 at North United Methodist Church. And please remember to when you talk to your counselor remind them of the importance of the access that channel 16 provides to the community for not only our meeting but all of the government meetings so you can stay on top of what's happening at the city.org by mail at PO 1082, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46206. Or you can reach Kathy Burton by phone at 317 847-9959. And our email is CB 7801 at AOL.com. So with that opening statement, our first speaker is announcements from the mayor's neighborhood advocate. And this is uh Jolene Medina. And you please take the floor and let us know what's going on. Good morning everyone. My name is Jocelyne Medina. I am one of the oh, do I need to grab the microphone? No, everything is good. Good morning everyone. My name is Jocelyne Medina. I am one of the 10 Layers Neighborhood Advocates. I serve Area 5, which is the far northwest area. It includes Pike Township and a little bit of Wayne Township. Today I brought some information and I just want to highlight first the purpose of a Mayor's Neighborhood Advocate is to engage residents and educate them about the city government and how to use it and then empower them to use it. So I'm bringing some updates from the city from some of our different programs in the city. Some major park investments. Playground updates include at 17 of the 28 playgrounds are renovated are going to be renovated citywide. And then there is an upcoming meeting at uh Robie Park. There is a planned investment for one million dollars there. There is a public meeting on June 23rd from 6.30 to 8.30 p.m. And that will be taking place at Robie Elementary, which is at 8700 West 38th Street. We are currently at a heat advisory from starting June 21st to June 24th. Our polls and splash pads will be are open. You can take a look at polls and splash pads out on indie.gov to take a look at the schedules. And these cooling centers are Staley Stratter Park on 2050 Bethel Avenue, Broadurpal Park, 1550 Broad Riple Avenue, Thatcher Park on 4949 West Vermont Street, and Indy Island Aquatic Center on 8300 East Raymond Street. Those were from noon to 6 p.m. 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. And as a reminder, we just had our Juneteenth holiday where trash was not picked up on Thursday. Those trash routes were uh transferred the Thursday routes were transferred to Friday, Friday routes, they should be catching up today on Saturday, and trash will return to a normal schedule on Monday. If you um did not get your trash picked up, or if you're having issues with trash getting picked up, please remember that you can call the mayor's action center, or you can submit a request through request indie on your app, or you can always contact your mayor's neighborhood advocate. If you go to Indy.gov and type in Mayor's Neighborhood Advocate, you should be able to pull up a map that looks similar to this, and you'll be able to put in your address and it'll tell you who is your representative, who's your MA for the area, and they should also be able to provide you some assistance with that. This is also what request indie would look like if anybody has with like a flyer on that. Um I will also give some updates on indigo. Indigo has proposed um a fare increase. This is the first time that they've done it in 16 years. Um this is all due to the rising cost of fuel maintenance and labor. Uh the fair policy includes adjustments to base fares and changes uh on paper pass options. Um there is a chance for residents to come in uh and express their opinions on this and just and be more informed about the situation.
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