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Lilly Endowment awarding grants to community foundations

INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) — Community foundations across Indiana are the latest recipients of grantmaking from Lilly Endowment’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow initiative. The grants range from helping to improve early childhood education to bolstering economic and workforce development efforts. 

GIFT Community Leadership Grants were available to community foundations in each of Indiana’s 92 counties, with the Endowment awarding 84 leadership grants representing 85 counties, ranging from $75,000 to $500,000, based on population. A list of the grants can be found here

“We are impressed by the ways in which foundation leaders engaged with their neighbors to explore the most important challenges and opportunities facing their communities,” said Ronni Kloth, the Endowment’s vice president for community development. “These proposals reflect strategic vision, collaboration and solid planning that can help residents work together for lasting change.”

The Endowment says the grants will support priorities established by the local foundations, which include:

  • Expand early childhood education opportunities
  • Strengthen economic and workforce development
  • Improve secondary and post-secondary education attainment
  • Address high rates of substance use disorder and mental illness
  • Support quality of life enhancements, such as improvements to parks and trails and arts and cultural amenities
  • Develop comprehensive transportation plans

The Endowment is expected to make more GIFT grants available to additional counties in the near future. Later this year, a total of $31.6 million in grants will be available for large-scale endeavors, with 17 community foundations as finalists for the funding. A list of the finalists can be found here