Grants Address The Unique Need Of Seniors Impacted By COVID‑19
Central Indiana Senior Fund, a fund of Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF), recently approved nine grants totaling $394,000 to support senior serving organizations as they respond to the COVID‑19 pandemic.
“The fund is—and always will be—committed to ensuring seniors have access to food, necessary transportation, and contact from someone who cares.”
“We reached out to organizations to determine how we could best help them during this health crisis,” stated James Leich, advisory board chair of the Central Indiana Senior Fund. “The fund is—and always will be—committed to ensuring seniors have access to food, necessary transportation, and contact from someone who cares.”
Grants focused on operating support to senior organizations in multiple Central Indiana counties, including the delivery of food to seniors. Central Indiana Senior Fund was also proud to support the Neighbor Relief Fund for Marion County and the Hamilton County Crisis Response Fund—both created by CICF—as it responds to urgent COVID‑19 needs.
“It was important to the advisory board that we assist not only Marion County seniors but seniors in the surrounding counties as well who often have access to fewer services,” said Leich. “Because seniors are more vulnerable to COVID‑19, Central Indiana Senior Fund prioritized support to help seniors receive essential assistance while remaining safely at home.”
A full list of organizations and projects funded is below.
STATE OF AGING IN CENTRAL INDIANA REPORT
In addition to supporting the community through responsive grantmaking, the Central Indiana Senior Fund supports and leads endeavors to strategically and proactively identify the unique needs of the aging population in our community. The fund partnered with The Polis Center at IUPUI to develop an annual State of Aging in Central Indiana report. This developing report will be a tool to help generate transformative ideas that address the unique and diverse needs of older adults in Central Indiana.
Using initial data, POLIS identified a population measure of the risk of social isolation in older adults, those aged 65 and older, to where they lived. Communities outside of Indianapolis, including Carmel and Greenwood, have some of the lowest risk of social isolation. In contrast, the highest risk is concentrated in the downtown area of Indianapolis. The town centers of Plainfield, Crawfordsville and Shelbyville also have a significantly higher risk. This data suggests that our urban core and town centers are more likely to have seniors at risk for social isolation. Learn more about the study and see a state map here illustrating the risk of social isolation in our seniors.
GRANTS awarded from Central Indiana senior fund
Organization |
Grant Purpose |
Amount Awarded |
| Boone County Senior Services | Operating support during COVID-19 for transportation to essential services, in-home services, food, and information and referral to Boone County seniors | $20,000 |
| CICOA | An increase from five meals provided per week to seven meals for 1,500 seniors | $75,000 |
| Hendricks County Senior Services | Operating support during COVID-19 for transportation to essential services, in-home services, food, and information and referral to Hendricks County seniors | $20,000 |
| CICF COVID-19 Response Funds: Neighbor Relief Fund for Marion County and Hamilton County Crisis Response Fund. These funds will be devoted to seniors. | Neighbor Relief Fund is a resident-engaged fund to support neighborhood-based and grassroots organizations. Hamilton County Crisis Response Fund will support community-based organizations | $150,000 |
| Johnson County Senior Services | Operating support during COVID-19 for transportation to essential services, food, and information and referral to Johnson County seniors | $20,000 |
| Meals on Wheels (Indianapolis) | Supports UPS delivery of frozen meals to 400 seniors for eight weeks, which helps keep seniors and volunteers safe | $48,000 |
| Morgan County Connect | Operating support during COVID-19 for transportation to essential services and food delivery for Morgan County seniors | $20,000 |
| Shelby Senior Services | Operating support during COVID-19 for transportation to essential services, food, and information and referral to Shelby County seniors | $20,000 |
| Westminster Neighborhood Services | Supports two months of food for seniors on the near eastside of Indianapolis | $21,000 |
| TOTAL | $394,000 | |
ABOUT CENTRAL INDIANA SENIOR FUND
Central Indiana Senior Fund was created in 2003 upon the decision to close The Indianapolis Retirement Home, a retirement home for low-income senior citizens. The funds from the sale of the home and its land, in addition to the retirement home’s endowment, all contributed to the creation of the Indianapolis Retirement Home Fund at Central Indiana Community Foundation, now known as Central Indiana Senior Fund. Since its inception, the Central Indiana Senior Fund has awarded more than $10 million to organizations and projects serving the senior population. Learn more about the Central Indiana Senior Fund.
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