INDIANAPOLIS
COMMITTED TO INCLUSION
Welcoming new residents has helped stimulate jobs, strengthen the economy
and set Indianapolis apart as a top destination for multicultural talent
In 1990, Maninder Singh Walia decided to move
to Indianapolis from India with his new bride, who
was already a Circle City resident. Bringing energy,
drive and the desire to pursue the American
dream, Walia worked his way up from waiting tables
at a local restaurant to launching his own restoration
business, which now employs a half dozen Hoosiers.
S TOCK.XCHNG/ROB TELLO
“Indianapolis offers great opportunities,” says
Walia, who, nine years after arriving in the United
States, became president of one of the metro area’s
three Sikh temples. An estimated 2,000 Indian Sikhs
have settled in the surrounding neighborhoods of
Indianapolis, reinvigorating the region’s already booming economy. Lured by lower housing costs, the Sikh
population has increased as much as tenfold in the
past two years, press reports estimate. That’s why,
when Indianapolis launched its Immigrant Welcome
Center last year to help newly arriving immigrants
settle into the community, Walia was thrilled to volunteer his time. “There’s a need to let immigrants know
how the city works,” he says.
To embrace new residents of all races and religions, the city has asked nearly a dozen Indianapolis Immigrant Welcome Center volunteers (called
Natural Helpers) to canvass neighborhoods and
connect people facing language and cultural barriers
with agencies that provide support. “The Welcome
Center is rooted in immigrants helping immigrants,”
says Amy Minick Peterson. As the city’s former first
lady, Peterson has been the driving force behind this
privately funded center run by the independent think
tank Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee (GIPC).
