Meeting deep needs: Shepherd’s Kids Day connects families with critical service providers
Life is often filled with overwhelming challenges for parents and...
How Shepherd, a youth group and a local ministry worked together to change a teen’s life
Jameer is only 13 years old, but he can tell you all about the...
Meeting deep needs: Shepherd’s Kids Day connects families with critical service providers
Life is often filled with overwhelming challenges for parents and children on the near Eastside of Indianapolis. One example: In 2023, staff at Shepherd Community Center learned that 61 students living in nearby neighborhoods and attending Indianapolis Public Schools were pregnant. Now, the staff could have said, “How awful,” and gone back to...
Podcasts
Shepherd works with local builder to provide affordable housing in Indianapolis
Executive Director Jay Height and Director of Housing Dennis Westlake discuss how...
Shepherd shows how a Christian ministry can partner with public schools
Executive Director Jay Height discusses Shepherd Community Center’s growing partnership...
How Dolly Parton and Shepherd are working together to teach kids to read
Executive Director Jay Height discusses Shepherd Community Center’s adult and children’s...
Columns by Jay
Youth violence in Indianapolis defies easy answers. But I know how you can help.
I recently was sent a disturbing video of a teenager being knocked to the ground by another teen on a Saturday night in downtown Indianapolis. Several teens then surrounded the child – and yes, most teens are still children developmentally and legally – and repeatedly kicked and punched him as he wrapped his arms around his head for protection. Others in the crowd pulled out their phones to record this scene of casual violence in the heart of our city. And yet this brutal assault wasn’t close...
‘Friendship recession’ is ravaging our mental and physical health. Here’s how we fight against it together.
It’s been called the friendship recession. And it’s having devastating consequences on our emotional, mental and physical health. Recent surveys indicate that Americans have significantly fewer close friends on average and are much more likely to say they have no close friends than in previous decades. The friendship recession is so severe that U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has declared that the surge in Americans’ loneliness and isolation is a public health crisis. In May, Murthy...
Why loving your neighbors is the secret to a happy and healthy life
In 1938, researchers at Harvard University asked a vital question that remains highly relevant 85 years later: What are the factors that determine if a person leads a healthy and happy life? To find answers, the researchers began a long-term study involving 268 Harvard sophomores, whose ranks included a future president, John F. Kennedy. Eventually, the participants’ spouses and children were added to the study, which continues to this day. What did the scientists determine, after eight...
Meeting deep needs: Shepherd’s Kids Day connects families with critical service providers
Life is often filled with overwhelming challenges for parents and children on the near Eastside of Indianapolis. One example: In 2023, staff at Shepherd Community Center learned that 61 students living in nearby neighborhoods and...
Meeting deep needs: Shepherd’s Kids Day connects families with critical service providers
Life is often filled with overwhelming challenges for parents and...
How Shepherd, a youth group and a local ministry worked together to change a teen’s life
Jameer is only 13 years old, but he can tell you all about the...
Podcasts
Shepherd works with local builder to provide affordable housing in Indianapolis
Executive Director Jay Height and Director of Housing Dennis Westlake discuss how...
Shepherd shows how a Christian ministry can partner with public schools
Executive Director Jay Height discusses Shepherd Community Center’s growing partnership...
How Dolly Parton and Shepherd are working together to teach kids to read
Executive Director Jay Height discusses Shepherd Community Center’s adult and children’s...
Columns by Jay
Youth violence in Indianapolis defies easy answers. But I know how you can help.
I recently was sent a disturbing video of a teenager being knocked to the ground by another teen on a Saturday night in downtown Indianapolis. Several teens then surrounded the child – and yes, most teens are still children developmentally and legally – and repeatedly kicked and punched him as he wrapped his arms around his head for protection. Others in the crowd pulled out their phones to record this scene of casual violence in the heart of our city. And yet this brutal assault wasn’t close...
‘Friendship recession’ is ravaging our mental and physical health. Here’s how we fight against it together.
It’s been called the friendship recession. And it’s having devastating consequences on our emotional, mental and physical health. Recent surveys indicate that Americans have significantly fewer close friends on average and are much more likely to say they have no close friends than in previous decades. The friendship recession is so severe that U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has declared that the surge in Americans’ loneliness and isolation is a public health crisis. In May, Murthy...
Why loving your neighbors is the secret to a happy and healthy life
In 1938, researchers at Harvard University asked a vital question that remains highly relevant 85 years later: What are the factors that determine if a person leads a healthy and happy life? To find answers, the researchers began a long-term study involving 268 Harvard sophomores, whose ranks included a future president, John F. Kennedy. Eventually, the participants’ spouses and children were added to the study, which continues to this day. What did the scientists determine, after eight...