Issue 6—February 1, 2005 Welcome to SAVI Connections, the bi-monthly electronic newsletter regarding the SAVI system! SAVI Connections provides news about SAVI, demonstrates various ways in which SAVI can benefit your organization, announces release of new data, showcases new tools, highlights a variety of SAVI users, and broadcasts user support and training options. The Polis staff encourages your ideas and feedback. Please address comments to: skandris@iupui.edu. View past newsletters at: www.savi.org/savii/about/news.aspx What's New? Community Resource Centers (CRCs) SAVI Community Resource Centers serve as resources for data and analysis support to users served by the CRC. SAVI staff prepare the CRCs by providing training on how to navigate SAVI, how to solve problems using SAVI, and how to perform basic analysis. In the future, you will be able to contact your local CRC for support. Here are two of our CRCs…keep watching for more! Indianapolis Marion County Public Library Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Centers, a resource for neighborhood organizations SAVI People: Anne-Marie Predovich Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center (INRC) Anne-Marie Predovich is the Executive Director of INRC, one of the Community Resource Centers for SAVI. Long before Anne-Marie joined INRC, however, she used SAVI as a tool to assist with the revitalization of the city’s far eastside. From 1997 to 2004, Anne-Marie was Executive Director of Community Alliance for the Far Eastside (CAFÉ). She recognized the value of reliable and detailed data in decision making and used SAVI in a variety of ways to further the area’s redevelopment efforts. SAVI data informed residents of demographic changes from the 1990 Census to the 2000 Census. This information was particularly helpful in advocating for housing issues, especially for the many apartment dwellers in this fast growing community. According to Predavich, “The demographic analysis assisted CAFÉ and other community organizations in determining the direction of organizational activities.” Economic development benefited also, she said: “SAVI was used to justify the need for businesses based on population location and characteristics.” At INRC, Anne-Marie plans to introduce many neighborhoods to resources like SAVI. She believes that neighborhoods “need to use SAVI in order to prevent duplication of services and to maximize existing services, by knowing both the assets and vulnerabilities in their neighborhoods.” Neighborhood Development Specialists at INRC will work with individual neighborhoods to train them to use SAVI, assist with data analysis, and help them make informed decisions.	Community Profiles—A New Service for SAVI Users “I don’t have time to hunt for data, even with SAVI’s new Quick Tools. Can’t SAVI simply provide me with an overview of my area?” The lament is common. Busy people need information quickly. They want a summary of what is known about a place before they begin to dig further. Why can’t SAVI offer pre-digested profiles of communities? It can—and soon will. In February, SAVI will release the first level of a new feature, Community Profiles. SAVI analysts have worked with users to identify the most commonly requested data about communities and are packaging it in an easily accessible form. The first level profiles will include all counties and townships in the Indianapolis MSA. Users can go to the Community Profiles page, identify the area, and, voila, SAVI will produce a set of data on demography, employment, education, housing, public assistance, vital statistics, and assets, complete with charts and graphs. When available, historical and other information will be presented. User also can find resources in their community, submit their own community links to be included, and contribute to a user forum for their community. The advantages to users will be many. Profiles will save time for individuals who need detailed statistical descriptions of their communities. For such widely requested topics as population size and breakdown, income, age and education, among others, users can compare data easily from one geographic area to another. (A handy comparison tool is currently under development, with release planned for later this year.) Community and economic development specialists and other individuals who wish to disseminate data about the community will be able to print an attractive report ready for presentation. Researchers, educators, civic leaders, and others will have a quick statistical and qualitative introduction to essential data about their geography of interest. And that’s not all. Community Profiles ultimately will contain separate space for residents to add their own information—photographs of community assets, results of neighborhood surveys, reports specific to their community, and citizen bulletin boards are only a few of the numerous potential options. Communities may upload and store data in SAVI for their own use or they may choose to open their dedicated space for others to view. Later this year SAVI developers will meet with representatives of selected communities to determine acceptable rules of use before launching this feature. SAVI already is known nationally as a leading community information system. Community Profiles will only strengthen its reputation. Mark Your Calendars for SAVI Users Conference On June 10 the first annual SAVI Users Conference will be held at the Ruth Lilly Health Education Center (2055 N. Senate Avenue, Indianapolis). The Friday gathering will allow SAVI users to learn about new features and to share experiences. Plenary sessions will focus on the role and future of community information systems. All sessions will be interactive and designed to allow users to think together about how to gain maximum benefit of SAVI for their organizations or practice. Watch this space later this spring for further details, including an invitation to share your experiences with other SAVI colleagues. Mapping the Community SAVI provides the ability to generate maps about your community. Among the most requested maps are: Births to Mothers Age 15 to 18 as a Percent of All Births by Census Tract, 2003 Persons Age 18 and Older Living in Poverty by Township, 2000 Population without a High School Diploma by Census Tract, 2000, and Schools
	SAVI is a community information system administered and maintained by The Polis Center at IUPUI. SAVI is supported financially by the following organizations: Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust; Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, Inc.; Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis, Inc.; Annie E. Casey Foundation; Lilly Endowment, Inc.; United Way of Central Indiana; City of Indianapolis, Department of Metropolitan Development; Marion County Health and Hospital Corporation; Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI).
For more information about SAVI, please visit the website at www.savi.org.