David Watkins, Community Lending Manager at Level One Bank, received the FHLBank Indianapolis Community Spirit Award at the 2019 Community Investments Workshop in Troy, Michigan. As Community Development Manager at Level One Bank, Watkins has helped his customers successfully apply for more than $3 million in grant funds from a variety of sources including FHLBank Indianapolis. These grants have gone towards helping first-time homebuyers with down payment and closing cost assistance and home repairs. In 2018 alone, Watkins helped over 40 low- to moderate-income households receive over $350,000 in grant funds in southeast Michigan and the Grand Rapids area. Watkins also promoted the FHLBank Indianapolis Elevate small business grant program to his customers, of which two received funding. In addition to his work helping homeowners navigate the grant application process, he also teaches homebuyer education courses and financial literacy workshops, and he established a partnership with the Chaldean Community Foundation to assist Chaldean immigrants with banking, budgeting, and preparation for homeownership.

Yolanda Davis, Horizon Bank Vice President and Community Reinvestment Act Officer, with the Community Spirit Award at the Indiana Housing Conference on September 27, 2018. Davis was nominated for the Community Spirit Award by her colleagues at Horizon Bank for her role in developing creative loan programs and outreach to underserved communities. Using her experience of 25 years in banking, Davis educates her coworkers and the community on how to best obtain and then use funding to make her clients housing dreams into a reality. Davis has helped many borrowers take advantage of the FHLBank Indianapolis Homeownership Initiatives grants such as the Neighborhood Impact Program (NIP), Homeownership Opportunity Program (HOP), and Accessibility Modification Program (AMP). In addition to her work with FHLBank Indianapolis programs, Davis has created new programs through Horizon Bank to assist potential homebuyers. One of the programs she created, called Home Pride, enables homeowners with lower credit scores to purchase homes with a fixed interest rate, low downpayment, and without mortgage insurance. This program, paired with other downpayment assistance programs, allows her customers to have more buying power.