United Way of Central Indiana awards $950,000 to 11 nonprofits for social innovation
INDIANAPOLIS – United Way of Central Indiana announced Wednesday it will award $950,000 in grants to 11 nonprofits from the Social Innovation Fund.
The fund is designed to support organizations that are developing creative solutions to meet community needs.
The grant recipients will address food insecurity, mental health and well-being, and safe and affordable housing, among other needs. They’ll help Black and Latinx entrepreneurs build sustainable and scalable businesses, grow a mobile health clinic, support immigrant families new to Central Indiana, stabilize families in the foster care system and assist people and families after incarceration.
Over the summer, 89 organizations submitted letters of interest to United Way seeking grants from the Social Innovation Fund. The field was narrowed to 27 nonprofits that were asked to submit applications. A workgroup of 19 people, including United Way board members, staff and community members, reviewed the applications and selected the grant recipients.
United Way estimates nearly 18,000 people will be served through this round of funding.
“Our community is fortunate to have new and growing initiatives that will bring valuable opportunities to those who need them,” said Jonathan Jones, United Way’s senior director of social innovation. “This is an exciting moment for Central Indiana and our neighbors, and we are thrilled to be able to partner with these organizations for innovation and a brighter tomorrow.”
Here’s a look at the 2022-2023 Social Innovation Fund grantees and how they plan to use the grants:
Be Nimble Foundation Inc. – $94,000
Be Nimble Foundation is embarking on phase two of the Nile Innovation Bank, which includes the launch of their newest program, Retail and E-Commerce Fellowship and Accelerator. The program will focus on scaling existing businesses through a one-year fellowship concentrating on building a scalable e-commerce tech-stack, assisting in product development and manufacturing, and connecting entrepreneurs to retail partnerships for their products. Long-term goals of this program are to increase the GDP of our state, establish a thriving retail industry, and build sustainable and scalable businesses for Black and Latinx entrepreneurs.
Convicted 2 Change – $104,000
Convicted 2 Change will expand its Pathways for Change Commercial Driver’s License program, which serves clients living below the federal poverty line and previously incarcerated people experiencing difficulties seeking employment. The program will provide clients with four to five weeks of state-regulated CDL training and licensing. After training, clients will obtain a career in transportation, increasing their income to $55,000 to $65,000 in the first year.
Fight for Life Foundation Inc – $90,000
Fight for Life Foundation supports students with the Building Dreams platform. The platform is implemented by teachers to provide real-time data insights into student behavior and interventions prior to a further drop-off in student behavior. The capability of technology and data to seamlessly engage and connect a network or group is why technology should be leveraged more in innovative ways to create efficiency and effectiveness with school culture and climate management. Through positive reinforcement, appropriate interventions and impactful support, Fight for Life will help students gain the self-awareness and self-control needed to be successful with attendance, academic performance and social-emotional wellness.
Flanner House – $85,000
Flanner House will utilize its mental health center, Morning Star, to create the Black barbershop. The project builds upon the rich and powerful history of barbers as trusted entrepreneurs providing essential services to the African American community. Medical and public health research has proven that barbershops can be mobilized as venues for the delivery of health promotion and disease prevention services designed to eliminate health disparities and advance health equity. This builds on a national model to widen the landscape of mental health in the community.
Gennesaret Free Clinics – $90,000
Gennesaret Free Clinics will expand its Mobile Medical Clinic program. The Mobile Medical Clinic provides free healthcare and social support services to clients who are no- or low-income, experiencing homelessness/housing instability, and/or are uninsured in targeted ZIP codes with the highest risk of lowest life expectancy. Gennesaret Free Clinics will add a community health worker position to provide complimentary social support services to patients. During the grant period, the mobile clinic program will provide more than 3,500 medical appointments and will serve more than 1,000 with services.
Grassroot Projects – $80,000
Grassroot Project provides supports to immigrant families with children by providing families with resources through low-barrier initiatives. Funding will support two programs focused on serving immigrant youth: One program centers on access to basic needs and the other provides choice to participate in well-being activities. The Care and Connect program provides essentials that are delivered to the family via a customizable care package that meets a variety of health, transportation and educational needs. The Sponsor a Passion program provides children with two months of sponsorship to pursue interests in organized activities such as swimming, tumbling, music, art classes and more.
Kheprw Institute – $90,000
Kheprw Institute has acquired a 17-acre land parcel on the south side of Indianapolis that will become Octavia's Visionary Campus. Funding will support a systematic streamlining of their food work to increase capacity to educate, produce and distribute food to the community. Plans for the farm include a range of agricultural education programming, food production initiatives, opportunities to collaborate with community members, partners and organizations, the creation of innovative platforms and a myriad of other possibilities all focused on long term sustainment.
Martindale Brightwood Community Development Corporation – $94,000
Martindale Brightwood CDC's model for neighborhood revitalization is a resident-inclusive, one-block-at-a-time approach with the goal of increasing the stock of safe affordable housing. For residents that own their home, maintenance and improvement projects are key to retaining and increasing home value. To help support individuals that currently own their homes, Martindale Brightwood CDC will be expanding its relationship with THAConstruction/Youth Build and will employ two residents to assist with community projects. Through this expanded relationship, Martindale Brightwood CDC will help 60 people with home improvements, 30 people with maintenance projects, recruit 10 new resident volunteers and support five youth with construction training, work and certification.
Trinity Free Clinic – $94,000
Trinity Free Clinic will provide people access to medical certification courses that are not traditionally offered or easily accessible. Courses will provide didactic, lab and clinical experiences simultaneously with the goal of providing practical application of their training by ensuring students have exposure to clinical experiences earlier in their education. Students will also gain administrative, soft and life skills, including workplace communications, conflict management and financial literacy. This program will be launched in a three-phase approach to provide access to three certification paths: dental assisting, medical assisting and optometric assisting.
The Villages of Indiana – $35,000
The Villages will expand its current programming by introducing co-care, a service that creates a partnership between parents and foster parents, promoting transparency and inclusivity so children can achieve positive outcomes related to stability, health and well-being. The goal is to strengthen and stabilize at least 160 families in Central Indiana who are involved in the foster care system. Informed by the community with lived experience, staff will develop this program to provide a positive impact and equitable access to a continuum of comprehensive services.
VOICES – $94,000
VOICES will help families establish generational wellness by enrolling entire family units in services pre- and post-release from incarceration. Families entering this program have experienced the cumulative effects of violence, trauma, cyclical poverty, and lack of high-quality educational opportunities that stifle their ability and desire to be the best versions of themselves. VOICES will provide services that put those in poverty in leadership roles to co-create programming and determine resource allocation and allow for them to build social capital with their peers in their community to have the greatest impact in helping them overcome poverty.