United Way’s Parent Advisory Council awards $200,000 in grants to 7 nonprofits

INDIANAPOLIS – United Way of Central Indiana announced today that its Parent Advisory Council has awarded $200,000 in grants to seven nonprofits in the region.  

This is the first round of funding to be awarded by the council, a new initiative from United Way of Central Indiana.  

Since early 2022, 14 parents and caregivers representing 10 zip codes in United Way’s seven-county service area have met monthly at United Way, where they learn about United Way’s work and the grantmaking process and share what they are seeing, hearing and experiencing in their communities. They also dig into United Way data to understand what the numbers show about community need.  

The council brings parents to the table – with the goals of strengthening parent leaders and also tapping into community voice to inform and influence United Way’s work.  

“As a community-facing organization, we are trying to drive equitable outcomes in our community. And those decisions should not only be made from our team here at United Way and our supporters here at United Way,” said Shannon Jenkins, United Way’s Family Opportunity senior director. “In order for us to drive to those equitable outcomes, we have to bring in outside voices to help inform and influence that.” 

Added Dionna El, Family Opportunity project specialist: “Making sure we have community members, parents at the table is extremely important because you really can’t make decisions without them.” 

United Way serves as the backbone and fiscal support for the council, but the parents drive the decision-making. Drawing on data and their own experiences, the council created the Power to the Parent Fund. It focuses on awarding grants to address four areas the parents identified as having a high need in the community: financial stability, mentorship, mental health and well-being, and social and emotional learning.  

The parents developed a request for proposals, reviewed 23 applications and selected seven grant recipients.  

Organizations receiving grants from the Power to the Parent Fund:  

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana – $33,330  

Burmese American Community Institute – $33,330 

Overdose Lifeline – $11,850 

Reach for Youth – $34,680 

YMCA of Morgan County – $20,150 

Visually Impaired Preschool Services – $33,330 

The Villages – $33,330