The Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities, in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency, is providing planning assistance to the Department of Neighborhoods and the East Central Neighborhood to address extreme heat in East Central. The Jennings Center, Indiana Tech, and the Foellinger Foundation have also partnered in the project.

Why East Central?

The East Central Neighborhood applied to the City's Department of Neighborhoods as an extension of a partnership built to develop the East Central Forward Neighborhood Plan, which can be found here.

Why extreme heat?

Did you know that urban areas can be up to 10 degrees warmer than rural areas, and that extreme heat is the most fatal weather event, even more than tornadoes, floods, or riptides? The City of Fort Wayne mapped heat in the entire city in the Summer of 2024, which can be found here.

The EPA has provided the Next Steps memo in Fall 2025, which can be downloaded below. Each of the four action steps is being worked towards, with funding, partners, and opportunities being established.

Continue to follow this page for updates on the project!