By Brooke Wagner, BUPD 2028

Summer 2025 was exciting, relevant, and impactful—both for the town of North Manchester, Indiana, and for myself as a sophomore in Ball State’s Urban Planning program. Since May, I have interned with the Community Foundation of Wabash County (CFWC) under president and CEO Alex Downard and Imagine One 85 Project Manager Conner Hindman.

The Imagine One 85 strategic plan addresses population decline in Wabash County and has created new opportunities for strategic projects, community engagement, and placemaking efforts to better serve residents.

As a summer intern, I contributed my graphic design and community engagement skills to several Imagine One 85 initiatives. The experience gave me valuable practice in listening to community needs and translating those ideas into designs and strategies that can be implemented. Some of the projects I worked on included developing a student engagement program, creating floor plans for a neighborhood stabilization effort, rendering a schematic perspective for a veteran’s memorial and writing a small grant application to support a universally accessible co-design session with Wabash County residents.

One of the most meaningful projects I contributed to was the Manchester Mile, a one-mile walkable corridor connecting Manchester University to downtown North Manchester. Working alongside Jones Petrie Rafinski, I helped research, write, and design a student engagement program to reimagine how university students and local residents move through and interact in shared spaces. This project emphasized for me the role of urban planning in bridging connections between people and places.

Another project, the Neighborhood Stabilization Act, focuses on revitalizing vacant homes in Wabash County and reselling them at below-market prices. This initiative provides affordable homeownership opportunities for lower-income families and local graduate students. As part of this effort, I measured a vacant home in Wabash and created a schematic floor plan using SketchUp, which will help inform its redevelopment.

In Lagro, Ind., I worked on a rendering for a prospective veteran’s memorial at Kerr Locks, supported by the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority’s CreatINg Places grant program. This project highlighted how even small communities can leverage planning tools and design vision to celebrate local history and identity.

Through each of these experiences, I gained firsthand insight into how urban planning combines technical skills, design thinking, and community collaboration. My internship with CFWC not only sharpened my academic and professional skills but also reaffirmed why I chose urban planning: to create spaces that are accessible, equitable, and meaningful for the communities they serve.

Brooke Wagner is a Lilly Scholar and a Ball State Student Ambassador from Wabash County. She is majoring in Urban Planning.