We have some extremely exciting news to share! Blue River Community Foundation has received a grant of $5,000,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc. through the Community Leadership Implementation Grants component of the eighth phase of its Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VIII) initiative. This is one of 30 implementation grants being awarded through GIFT VIII, a statewide Lilly Endowment initiative designed to support the efforts of community foundations and their partners to strengthen quality of life for the people in the towns, cities, counties and regions they serve.
With the grant, Blue River Community Foundation will develop a Nonprofit Center to serve Shelby County that will be nothing short of transformative for our neighbors and nonprofit organizations that serve the community. The nonprofit center will allow both collocation and collaboration of our local nonprofit organizations that have made it their mission to improve the well-being of our most vulnerable community members. The center will also provide a space for incubation, a centralized food pantry operation, and navigator services for case management. Healthy Shelby County will own and operate the new Nonprofit Center.
This award is a testament to the incredible teamwork of BRCF, MHP, Healthy Shelby County and local government and the importance of cross-sector collaboration to build a stronger, more resilient community for everyone.
The future site of the center was a generous donation from the Reed Family: Pamela DePrez, Garry Reed, Jeffrey Reed, and Bobbi Conner. We extend our gratitude to the family for playing a crucial role by giving the center a home.
In 1990, Lilly Endowment launched the Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) initiative to help establish and further develop community foundations throughout Indiana. Lilly Endowment hoped that Indiana’s community foundations could enhance the quality of life in their communities by convening conversations among people of diverse ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, occupations, races and cultural traditions about their communities’ most compelling needs and opportunities as well as the best ways to address them.
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