Indiana University’s football team wasn’t the only champions crowned in January. The Indianapolis Recorder recently honored Executive Director Jay Height and Shepherd Community Center with its annual Champions of Impact Award.
Height and the Shepherd team were recognized for the lasting difference they have made in the lives of thousands of neighbors on the near East side of Indianapolis for more than four decades.
“We are so appreciative of this recognition for the tremendous work our staff and volunteers do every day to make Indianapolis a better place to live, work and worship,” Height said.
For 19 years, the Recorder has honored community leaders with the Champions of Impact Awards to recognize organizations and individuals who drive lasting improvements in business, health, education, culture and community leadership.
How is Shepherd impacting the community? It’s a long list, including housing projects, an elementary school, a preschool, before and after school care, a food pantry, mentoring for adults and students, mental health support in neighborhood schools, community policing, health care, financial literacy classes and workforce training.
Other leaders who joined Height and Shepherd in receiving Champions of Impact Awards this year include such well-respected figures as Marianne Glick, board chair of the Glick Family Foundation; Dennis Murphy, president and CEO of IU Health; and Gregg Keesling, founder and president of RecycleForce.
“I am proud to see the Champions of Impact Awards continue to grow,” said Robert Shegog, president and CEO of Recorder Media Group. “This year marks a new chapter for what this event represents. People are looking for more than applause and titles; they want to stand behind something that has meaning, something built on real work and real outcomes. Champions of Impact is not about recognition for its own sake. It’s about documenting the people who roll up their sleeves, take risks, and leave things better than they found them. Our goal is not just to honor them, but to set a marker for what leadership looks like in this moment in history. These honorees remind us that legacy is not given, it’s built, decision by decision.”
Shepherd’s legacy in the community has indeed been built decision by decision, day by day.
Even more important, it’s been built life by life, neighbor by neighbor.
