INDIANAPOLIS — Lindell Brown Jr. is opening up about his struggles with addiction.
"Addiction is not a one day, one and done. It's a lifelong thing," Brown Jr. said.
Buying and selling drugs landed him in prison for three years.
"Every day, I fight that battle to make sure that I'm staying on the right path and doing what I got to do. My kids are really, really an anchor for me," Brown Jr. said.
The father of two has been out of prison for almost three years. During that time, he's turned to the John Boner Neighborhood Center for assistance with housing and other resources.
Recently, the Boner Center connected him to Thrive Funds.
"People like Lindell, they write their own stories. They tell us what their hopes and dreams are, what the challenges are that they're facing, and we put those on our platform, our online platform," Kerry Tuttle, Director of Strategic Philanthropy at Thrive Funds, said.
Donors can go on the platform, read stories and identify a family or individual they want to help.
"So the donor knows exactly who they're helping and what the impact of their gift is, that's a very different kind of philanthropy," Tuttle said.
Thrive Funds started as a pilot project in Indianapolis in July 2022.
The focus is on four categories: transportation, childcare, career advancement and technology.
They work with five local organizations that identify clients at risk of falling further into poverty.
"They tell us exactly what resources they need. So transportation, gas cards is probably our largest need in Indianapolis," Tuttle said.
Brown Jr. is focused on improving his life by going back to school.
Within the last year, he's received certificates in business information technology and business administration from Ivy Tech.
It's a goal he was able to reach thanks to a laptop he got from Thrive Funds.
"Without their help, I would still be struggling, trying to get by with my computer that wasn't even getting on the internet the right way," Brown Jr. said.
Brown Jr. is not stopping now, he has has a goal to get his Associates Degree.
"I've been on the positive road and not looking back to none of the bad, bad things I did in my life. If you want to help yourself, they're willing to help you too," Brown Jr. said.
Thrive Funds works with centers in Indy and recently expanded to Boston and San Francisco.
In 2023, the organization helped 90 families. The goal this year is to help 300 across the country, about half of those in Indianapolis.
