Across Indiana, schools and youth-serving organizations are facing a difficult reality: students needs are not going away, and funding designed to sustain student support is being cut.

At Brightlane Learning’s recent Sparking Conversations convening, sponsored by Katz, Sapper & Miller, community experts came together to discuss what it will take to sustain meaningful support for students amid funding instability and growing inequities.

Together Chelsea English, School Social Worker at Indianapolis Public Schools, Chris Speckman, Vonnegut Youth Writing Center Coordinator at Indianapolis Public Schools, Sam Snideman, Vice President of Government Relations at United Way of Central Indiana, and Brightlane Learning CEO Kelly Coker acknowledged serious challenges while highlighting something equally important: communities still have the power to respond with creativity, compassion, and action.

The challenges discussed were significant. But so was the hope.

Community Partnerships Are Not Optional

Sam Snideman shared how recent federal and state policy shifts have reduced funding streams that schools and community organizations have long relied on to support students and families.

Following a March 2025 survey of United Way of Central Indiana’s funded partners across the region, nearly two-thirds reported reductions or eliminations of government contracts and grants. For some organizations, the cuts raised serious concerns about long-term sustainability for critical services.

Yet while resources are disappearing, student needs are not. One of the clearest themes from the discussion was that schools cannot do this work alone.

Partnerships between schools, nonprofits, universities, and volunteers have become essential to sustaining support for students. Whether through tutoring programs, mentoring relationships, after-school support, or social-emotional services, collaboration is helping fill critical gaps for young people.

Panelists described successful partnerships not as isolated programs, but as interconnected networks of support.

“It takes a lot of people,” shared Chris Speckman. “These interlocking parts create something stable.”

That stability matters deeply for students experiencing instability elsewhere in their lives.

Effective partnerships are not about recognition, ownership, or institutional credit. They are about students.

Relationships Are the Real Intervention

Throughout the discussion, our speakers repeatedly returned to one truth: students need consistent adults who show up, listen, and stay.

That sounds simple, but it is transformational.

Chelsea English and Chris both spoke candidly about how students often carry distrust, instability, or past experiences that make relationship-building difficult at first. Trust takes time. Consistency matters. Presence matters.

Community members entering school spaces were encouraged not to approach students with a “fixing” mindset, but instead with curiosity, authenticity, and care.

“None of us saves anybody, but we can be part of a process that helps people fix themselves to the extent that they need that,” Sam reminded us all.

That perspective shifts how support is offered. Students do not need saviors. They need people willing to see them, hear them, and believe in them.

Chelsea described how volunteers sometimes feel pressure to have the perfect advice or the right words. But often, what students need most is someone willing to listen to them talk about their interests, their lives, or even something as ordinary as Minecraft before jumping into academics or life lessons.

Relationships are built in those moments.

And while these connections may not always show up immediately in test scores or spreadsheets, panelists emphasized that they matter profoundly. Students come back to spaces where they feel known. They remember adults who stayed consistent. They carry those relationships with them long after graduation.

Inequities Grow When Support Systems Erode

The conversation also highlighted how funding reductions disproportionately impact students already facing instability.

Transportation cuts can prevent students from participating in sports, music, theater, and after-school programs that keep them connected to school communities. Reduced childcare access impacts attendance and family stability. The loss of summer programming and enrichment opportunities widens opportunity gaps even further.

For students experiencing homelessness, these barriers compound quickly.

Panelists also discussed the importance of early intervention programs, childcare assistance, and community-based support systems that help stabilize families before crises deepen. Without those supports, students often begin school already behind academically, socially, or emotionally through no fault of their own.

These inequities are not inevitable. They are shaped by policy choices, funding priorities, and community investment.

And because they were created by people, they can also be changed by people.

This Moment Requires Civic Responsibility

One of the most powerful moments of the discussion centered on the idea of civic responsibility.

Sam, Chris, Chelsea, and Kelly reflected on how easy it can feel to disengage when challenges seem so large. But they challenged attendees to resist the belief that individual actions do not matter.

Communities are built through ordinary people choosing to care for one another consistently.

That care can take many forms: volunteering, mentoring, advocating, sharing information, building partnerships, supporting schools, or simply helping others better understand the realities students and families face.

Awareness matters because awareness spreads.

Chris noted that many volunteers become involved simply because someone they trusted shared a story or invited them into the work. Conversations create connection, and connection creates action.

The discussion closed with a reminder that no one person is responsible for solving every problem. But everyone has a role to play.

Moving Forward Together

At Brightlane Learning, we believe conversations like these matter because they bring people closer to both the challenges and the possibilities facing students today.

Students experiencing homelessness and instability need more than programs. They need communities willing to stay engaged, build trust, and work together creatively in the face of uncertainty.

The good news is that this work is already happening across Indianapolis every day. Stable and supportive relationships are being built in classrooms, libraries, tutoring spaces, shelters, nonprofits, and schools. Educators, volunteers, social workers, and community partners are continuing to show up for students even when the path forward feels difficult.

But there is still room for more people at the table.

Whether you are an educator, advocate, parent, policymaker, volunteer, or community member, your voice matters in this moment. Your willingness to stay informed, speak up, build relationships, and invest in students matters.

Because sustainable student support has never been the work of one organization alone.

It has always been the work of community.

Learn more about becoming a Brightlane Learning volunteer today!