INDIANA – The Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute released its 2020 Statewide Community Needs Assessment.
This infographic and chart book uses data from the statewide surveys conducted from Fall 2020 to Spring 2021 of more than 5800 financially vulnerable Hoosiers, plus the most recent U.S. Census American Community Survey data.
Find the infographic report here.
The report is based on survey data from clients using Community Action Agencies’ services across
the state as well as data available from the U.S. Census Bureau, giving life to the academic study of poverty.
As part of this needs assessment, financially vulnerable Hoosiers were asked about many areas of life that
research has shown to contribute to the causes and conditions of poverty. Factors such as educational
attainment, debt burden and access to financial services, employment, housing, transportation, health care,
food insecurity, and many others.
Neighbors and community members say, in their own words, factors that caused their current experience of poverty, what effect poverty has had on their lives, how the pandemic affected the and their families, and what they still need as they work through poverty in a system that is set up to keep some people on the bottom.
“There are many challenges facing Indiana communities right now, and no single organization can meet all the
needs. In partnership with leaders in each community, we can work together to make sure that everyone in
Indiana has the chance to reach its full potential,” said Jessica Fraser, Director, Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute.
