Community Link: The Links Inc.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — On this week’s Community Link, we are discussing The Links, Incorporated, an organization serving the African-American youth in Indianapolis. Chapter President Jarnell Burks-Craig dropped by to tell us more.

Tell us about the Links organization. When did it start and why? 

The international organization was started in Philadelphia in 1946 by two friends Margaret Hopkins and Sara Scott and their vision was to bring more friends into their organization to provide services within the needy communities. And that’s what has happened we now have 209 chapters in the United States and we just recently established a chapter in London.

What are some of the programs Links supports and some of the things you are doing in the community? 

We have five facets that we serve within our community, we have the arts, service to youth, national transit services, international transit services and we recently added health and human services.

Tell us about the conference that’s coming up.

This will be our 41st national assembly and the theme of the assembly is linking our legacy, owning our future…and that’s what we’re trying to do. We always come into the city, what we do first is give back to the community, so we will be hosting a community health and safety fair on Tuesday June 26th open to the public you’ll be getting information through media outlets. It’s from 9 to 3 at the Riverside Family Center.

Tell us about a service project that you’ll be doing.

It will bring in the National Colgate Band and we hope to screen 500 children in regards of dental needs and we’ll also be involved in the infant mortality initiative that is one of our governor’s priorities. So we will be giving our pack and plays for pregnant mom and those mothers with children under the age of one. We hope that we will be able to give back to the city all that the city has given to us. We have wonderful partners…they are all working and supporting this assembly here in Indianapolis.