Hamilton County Community Foundation co-invests with fundholders

We invite our fundholders to review the list of granted recipients and their associated projects with the exciting opportunity to come alongside the foundation and address gaps in the funding of requests that align with your philanthropic interests.

In the recent round of grantmaking, Hamilton County Community Foundation received 38 applications requesting $884,629 in funding. All grant requests went through a competitive review process vetted by Hamilton County community leadership staff.

Through this process, 14 applications were awarded a total of $183,224. While we are thrilled with this level of impact, the need in our community remains high as these 14 organizations had requested a total of $254,929 in funding. This leaves $71,705 not received via grants. Awarded organizations that received partial funding are denoted with an asterisk (*) below.

Hamilton County Community Foundation
Grants Committee Report
OrganizationProject TitleProject Description
Arts for Learning, Indiana Affiliate of Young Audiences*Wolf Trap for Hamilton CountySupport the continuation of supplementary arts in education programming at Sheridan Elementary and Hamilton County Head Start. Goal is to increase the depth of programming in the 2022-2023 school year by providing Wolf Trap Institute professional development and residencies. Wolf Trap Institute embraces active learning with children and educators through high-quality professional development. It begins by training professional Teaching Artists in early childhood development and curriculum. Teaching Artists then work with teachers in their classrooms—sharing arts integration strategies, developing lesson plans, and interacting with children. Serve approximately 595 unduplicated Hamilton County children, ages two through age 11, in addition to 12 Head Start teachers.
Boys & Girls Club of NoblesvilleBGCN Transportation ProgramSupport transportation program in the fall semester 2022 and spring semester 2023. Program designed to ensure members have access and means to arrive safely at the Club's facility each day after school to take part in high-impact programs that focus on academic success, healthy & active lifestyles and good character & citizenship. This program was specifically designed to address the absence of transportation from four Noblesville elementary schools to BGCN.
Hamilton Heights Educational Foundation Inc.*2022 Weekend Backpack Program - Feeding our Students for Healthy Minds & BodiesSupport students in pre-K through 4th grade who are eligible for free/reduced lunch. Students receive a backpack or a bag every Friday afternoon during the school year. Contains nonperishable items, such as soup, applesauce and fruit drinks. The kids return their empty backpacks on Monday, and the process is repeated. On long weekends or breaks, a double portion is provided in the backpacks.
Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation*Supporting Every Mind in HSE SchoolsSupport therapy sessions provided by mental health professionals through the current and future mental health programs that will be housed under the HSEF Every Mind Mental Health Fund. Two existing programs are: 1) Project HOPE that has provides mental health sessions to students lacking insurance and 2) Successful School Return Program for students who struggle to return to school in person after virtual learning from COVID-19. The proposed new program targets at-risk students who would benefit from mental health supports but may be unable to afford their high deductible insurance fees or may lack mental health coverage within their insurance plan.
Heart and Soul Clinic, Inc.*Manage, Maintain and Move Forward Integrative HealthOperational support to manage, maintain and move forward the integrative health system. Funding will aid the clinic in 3 ways: 1) “manage” by assisting the clinic in helping patients pay for prescriptions, 2) “maintain” by increasing the hourly wage of the healthcare coordinator and business manager to a living wage so that clinic can have qualified staff to provide quality care for the patients, 3) “move forward” by providing a portion of the funding needed to contribute to the first strategic plan. Since 2020, the clinic has incorporated mental health counseling as one of the main services.
Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry"Meat" The NeedSupport processing of approximately 3,700 pounds of donated livestock and deer within Hamilton County-providing nearly 15,000 meals for residents in need of additional food services. On average, the cost of this donated meat is about $1.33 per pound, which is less than $0.35 per meal. Requesting to retain 10% of the funding to apply towards administrative costs associated with implementing program in Hamilton County. The donation is processed, packaged, and local hunger relief agencies are contacted for pick up.
Hope Family Care Center, Incorporated*Mental Health Counseling ProgramOperational support of their behavioral/mental healthcare services. Their mental health services were introduced in 2019 with a single counselor. In January 2021, they expanded to 3 counselors. Goal is to increase to 6 counselors in 2023 due to continued increase in referrals for mental health care. HOPE's free counseling sessions are one of a very few options for people in the area who are not able to afford mental health care.
Janus Developmental Services, Inc.Advancing and Transforming Employment Programming for People with Intellectual and Developmental Differences in Hamilton CountySupport program assessment and intensive two-week, skill based employment training program for 60 individuals of all ages and staff. Utilize consultant services for assessment and training. Ultimately, goal is to transform sheltered workshop programming into a long-term, sustainable and relevant program that continues to support clients in gaining skills and finding fulfilling, equitably paid employment, as well as receiving ongoing support and services complementing their employment. This two-week training is an important first step in helping Janus do this work.
Meals on Wheels of Hamilton County*SPONSOR-A-MEAL PROGRAMSupport of Sponsor-A-Meal (SAM) Program that serves the entire Hamilton County community. This program provides nutritious meals (hot, cold and frozen) to individuals who are unable to prepare their own meals due to a physical and/or mental challenge. The program assists with funding or completely subsidizes meals for those unable to pay. These individuals, for whatever reason, do not qualify for assistance through CICOA or the Medicaid Wavier program. If they do qualify, these programs may not pay for cold and/or frozen meals. The projected number to be served through this grant is 36 low-income, elderly and/or disabled individuals for a 3-month period.
Million Meal Movement*Empowering youth to reduce food insecuritySupport food insecure families and youth in Hamilton County by hosting meal packs with students and community members. Volunteers package Macaroni & Cheese Dinners which Million Meal Movement will deliver to food pantries and food support networks in Hamilton County. Plan to host meal packing event with Sheridan Schools and meals at one event will benefit Noblesville Fueled for School weekly backpack program. An estimated 22,600 servings (5,650 meals) of Macaroni & Cheese Dinners will be packed. Shelf-stable meals are easy for recipients to prepare, require no extra ingredients, and are fortified with Vitamin D and calcium. Short-term impact of program is local food support networks will be stocked with appealing, nutritious meals, increasing food security. Youth will be engaged in programming that promotes leadership through community service.
Noblesville Schools Education Foundation*Student Services Department SupportsSupport a new system (5 year subscription to SCUTA, a school counseling app) for counselors and social workers that creates the capacity of staff to implement targeted support which impacts highest risk students. The counselors and social workers know the impact of being data driven and informed but they have a systems barrier that doesn't allow staff to collect and effectively run reports to analyze and use data to inform and assess practices. Also requesting additional funding for the Student Services Department to support existing programming such as purchasing basic needs items for homeless students, refilling hygiene pantry, purchasing emergency medical supplies for students, etc. The funding will allow the school district time to plan for sustainability after the 5 year-subscription is up and appropriately budget to continue this service.
Paws and Think, Inc.Hamilton County Mental Health IntiativeSupport their Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI) and Youth-Canine Programs serving Hamilton County. Visits at schools will be weekly during the school year. The Youth-Canine program will run 4/year. Other venues will have visits on a monthly basis. This will result in over 250 visits for individuals in Hamilton County. They anticipate a minimum of 1,000 individuals to be served through this initiative. 12 shelter dogs will also benefit from the youth-canine portion of this proposal.
Social Health Association d.b.a. LifeSmart Youth*Healthy Youth for Hamilton County Initiative 2022-23Support to deliver health programs to grades 6-8 in Hamilton Heights School district during the 2022-23 school year. Will serve an estimated total of 385 students with 1,275 educational hours during the grant period (130 6th-graders/130 education hours; 125 7th-graders/625 educational hours; 130 8th-graders/520 educational hours). The goal is to equip students with the knowledge they need to make safe and healthy decisions for life. School-based health programs help youth adopt lifelong attitudes and behaviors that support overall health and well-being.
The Center for the Performing Arts*Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at The Center for the Performing ArtsSupport implementation plan and accountability system for CPA’s priority DEI work. Also, CPA will offer and implement its most diverse and inclusive performance season to help drive the public-facing DEI initiatives. CPA will select ten performances to pilot various audience engagement strategies that help the organization reach its DEI goals.