Dubois County Community Foundation Awarded $4.4 Million Grant from Lilly Endowment
Dubois County, December 7, 2020: Dubois County Community Foundation has been awarded a Large-Scale Community Leadership Grant of $4.4 million through the seventh phase of Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VII) initiative. The grant will support efforts to significantly improve access to services that address mental health and substance abuse disorders in Dubois County and the surrounding region.
Backed by its strategic plan, the Community Foundation began research in 2018 to better understand the root cause issues affecting the community, how nonprofit organizations are addressing them, and the overall impact of its grantmaking. The Community Foundation launched a community coalition in March comprised of approximately 40 community members and stakeholders across sectors to focus on implementing evidence-based, sustainable strategies that address this issue. The work of the community coalition helped inform a strong proposal requesting $4.4 million that was developed by Community Foundation staff, with input from community partners, and submitted in August. Notification of full funding was received on December 1.
The Community Foundation will be awarded the full grant payout in 2020. Disbursements to community partners will begin in 2021 and continue through 2025. Those recipients include Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center, LifeSpring Health Systems, Dubois County Community Corrections, Dubois County CARES and Next Step Recovery Home.
Dubois County Community Foundation is one of 11 community foundations in Indiana to receive a Large-Scale Leadership Grant as part of a competitive component of the GIFT VII initiative. Through GIFT VII, Lilly Endowment encouraged Indiana’s community foundations to deepen their understanding of the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing their local communities, prioritize them and develop plans to address the challenges and opportunities.
Like many communities across the state, Dubois County is significantly impacted by substance abuse and unaddressed mental health issues often exacerbated by a shortage of resources. The demand for services to address basic needs continues to rise despite a strong local economy. The presence of an unaddressed behavioral health issue impacts the ability to maintain employment and housing, increases risk of criminogenic behavior and weakens the family structure.
“The lack of access to mental health services and substance abuse treatment in the county and surrounding region is an urgent and critical need,” said Clayton Boyles, executive director of the Community Foundation.
“Through this large-scale funding opportunity, we’ve been given the opportunity to drastically change the trajectory of many lives in our region. Lilly Endowment’s partnership through this grant will be a catalyst to moving forward a holistic plan built by our community to address this complex issue,” said Boyles.
The scope of this initiative includes strategies that are diverse and broad, including but not limited to evidence-based, cognitive behavior programs for substance abuse treatment, residential treatment facilities, recovery housing, workforce attraction and retention of mental health professionals as well as public education and prevention efforts.
“We listened to our community and what surfaced was the prevalence of behavioral health issues and the shortage of resources,” Boyles said. “The lack of access to mental health services and substance abuse treatment in our county has a significant ripple effect on our families, employers, public systems, nonprofit resources and overall quality of life in our community.” Boyles said.
“The 11 grants Lilly Endowment is funding through the highly-competitive component of GIFT VII hold great promise of helping community foundations strengthen the leadership roles they play in improving the quality of life for their communities’ residents” said Ronni Kloth, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for community development. “We are truly impressed by the collaborative projects these community foundations have developed to address the compelling needs they have prioritized and look forward to seeing the impact of their efforts in the years to come.”
For additional detail of the programs and projects receiving funding through this initiative, click here.
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Dubois County Community Foundation is a public charitable foundation founded in 1996 to inspire philanthropy in Dubois County. The Community Foundation’s mission is to be the trusted charitable partner in shaping the future of its community by leveraging charitable giving and working with effective nonprofits to lead change. With nearly $50 million in protected assets, the Community Foundation is committed to being a leader for social change in Dubois County. For additional information, visit dccommunityfoundation.org.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly, Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. The Endowment funds significant programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion. However, it maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.