FRANKFORT/DELPHI, Ind. — Sept. 11, 2026 — Twenty nonprofit organizations across Clinton, Carroll and Howard Counties are sharing in $3 million of new grant funding after a nine-month process that Community Foundation leaders called one of the most ambitious in the organization’s history.
The Community Foundation, which serves Howard, Clinton and Carroll counties, awarded $750,000 in “Impact Grants” to four Clinton County nonprofits and $750,000 to 10 Carroll County nonprofits, on top of $1.5 million distributed to six Howard County organizations. The funding comes from Lilly Endowment Inc. as part of the ninth phase of its Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow initiative, and was designed to give community foundations flexible, largely unrestricted dollars to address pressing local needs.
“This was an opportunity for us to think beyond what is possible through our traditional grantmaking and give local nonprofits the ability to dream big,” said Todd Moser, president of the Community Foundation serving Howard, Clinton and Carroll counties, at a celebration event for Clinton County grant recipients. “These projects build on important work already happening in Clinton County while expanding access to resources and services that can make a meaningful difference in residents’ everyday lives.”
A nine-month process
Moser said the Foundation learned in January that Lilly Endowment would provide the special grant funding with unusually few restrictions attached. Moser, along with Foundation staff, proposed a distribution plan that the Foundation’s board approved in February. Three grant committees — made up of regular grant committee members and board members — were then formed across the three counties, and the Foundation hosted informational Zoom sessions for nonprofits in each county in March.
Phase one applications were due in May. Across all three counties, the Foundation received 79 applications requesting a combined $18 million — six times the $3 million available to distribute.
In Clinton County alone, 17 nonprofits applied for a combined $3.6 million. A volunteer grant committee narrowed that field to seven finalists, requesting $1.8 million, who advanced to a more detailed phase two application and in-person interviews conducted in July. The committee’s recommendations went to the Foundation’s board in August, and the four final Clinton County recipients were announced publicly by Sept. 1, as promised.
“We’re so thankful for our volunteer committees that work together to make those decisions,” said Emily Hemersbach, director of marketing and communications for the Community Foundation, in an interview on WILO’s “Party Line” program the morning after the Clinton County celebration. “When we were looking at all of it, we’re just like, oh my gosh, this is going to be really hard.”
Moser also thanked the nonprofits that applied but were not selected to advance. “Just because they did not get the final grant does not diminish the awesome work that they do every day in this community,” he told the room of Clinton County grantees and Foundation volunteers. “It was just a very competitive process and very difficult to narrow down.”
Moser and Hemersbach both credited the volunteer grant committees with the heavy lift of reading every phase-one and phase-two application and then spending a full day interviewing finalists. In Clinton County, Moser recognized committee members Jean Marshall, Laura Archibald, Esmeralda Cruz, Jack Ransom, Elaine Brovant, Laura Mullen, Tom Crawford and Debbie Graves for their volunteer service. He also praised Foundation staff members for their efforts to pull the process together in all three counties.
Clinton County: four organizations, four community priorities
The Clinton County Community Foundation is awarding its $750,000 in Impact Grants to four organizations, addressing needs identified in the Foundation’s 2024 Community Conversations report, including affordable housing, transportation, early childhood development, education, social and human services, and mental health and recovery.
Healthy Communities of Clinton County — Clinton County Community Engagement Center:
The project will bring health, social services and early childhood education together under one roof, including a new 75-seat early learning center and space for multiple community organizations, creating a centralized resource for Clinton County residents.
One80 Recovery Resources Inc. — Transitional Housing Project:
The project will construct transitional housing for men completing One80’s residential recovery program, providing a safe and supportive step between structured treatment and independent living, and helping graduates secure stable housing while staying connected to recovery support.
Paul Phillippe Resource Center — Public Transportation Expansion:
The expansion will add two accessible vehicles and additional drivers to increase transportation capacity, reduce trip denials, and improve access to employment, medical care and other essential services, including expanded service to Clinton County’s outlying communities.
Clinton County Economic Advancement Foundation — YMCA Revive Clinton County:
In partnership with the Lafayette YMCA, the project will support reopening the former Clinton County YMCA facility, restoring services lost when the facility closed and giving residents renewed access to child care, fitness, recreation and community connection.
“These projects represent meaningful investments in Clinton County’s future,” said Gene Marshall, chair of the Clinton County Community Foundation Board of Directors. “They address needs we know are important to our residents while creating opportunities for people to access services, find stability and stay connected to their community. Together, they make Clinton County an even stronger place to live, work and raise a family.”
Notably, the Foundation is not disclosing how much each organization received. “That’s not what we believe the focus should be,” Moser told grant recipients at the celebration. “The focus should be on the impact and the good work the nonprofit is doing in this community.” Grantees have been asked to share the amount only with their own boards.
Carroll County: ten organizations reach across every stage of life
In Carroll County, the Foundation awarded its $750,000 in Impact Grants to 10 nonprofit organizations, with projects touching early childhood, health, housing, recreation and quality-of-place needs across the county.
Carroll County Council on Aging — Transportation & Senior Center Programs:
Expanded transportation services will help Carroll County seniors access medical care, groceries, medications and other essential services while remaining independent and connected to their community.
Children’s Garden — Child Care Facility and Tuition Support:
Funding will support facility improvements and subsidized tuition for families who might otherwise struggle to afford child care.
Delphi Lions Club — Ice Cream Machine and Trailer:
A new mobile ice cream trailer will expand the club’s fundraising capacity at community events, sustaining programs including vision screenings and eyeglasses for Carroll County children.
Delphi Main Street — SensAbility Playground:
The project will create a fully inclusive playground for children of all abilities, featuring accessible, sensory-rich play elements.
Delphi School Corporation — Little Oracles Childcare Center:
The center will provide care for roughly 50 children from birth through age three, expanding early childhood care access and creating a seamless transition into the district’s pre-K and kindergarten programs.
Faithful Friends of Carroll Manor — Safety Advancements & Health Enhancements:
Funding will support critical safety, health and facility improvements at Carroll Manor, including upgraded life-safety systems.
Family Health Clinic of Carroll County — Mobile Outreach:
A mobile outreach initiative will bring essential health and hygiene supplies directly to individuals and families through partnerships with local food pantries and community organizations.
Flora-Monroe Township Public Library — Dolly Parton Imagination Library:
In partnership with Flora Psi Iota Xi, the project will expand access to free, age-appropriate books for children from birth to age five throughout Carroll County.
L&A Park — New Girls’ Softball Field:
A new girls’ softball field at Abby and Libby Memorial Park will expand recreational opportunities for youth and families.
Wabash and Erie Canal — Canal Playboat Renaissance:
The project will renovate and expand the Canal Park’s nearly 20-year-old playboat, a free community attraction offering hands-on learning and recreation tied to Carroll County’s history.
“When you look at these projects together, you see organizations responding to needs that touch people at every stage of life throughout Carroll County,” said Al Jackson, chair of the Carroll County Community Foundation Board of Directors. “From childcare and healthcare to transportation, recreation and quality of place, these investments have the potential to make a meaningful difference in people’s everyday lives. We’re grateful for the opportunity to support organizations that know this community well and are working to make it an even better place to live.”
Howard County’s share
Howard County received $1.5 million — double the Clinton and Carroll allocations — reflecting Lilly Endowment’s population-based funding formula, and distributed it to six nonprofits.
Among them, Hemersbach highlighted a grant to Ascension St. Vincent Kokomo to add blood-storage capability to ambulances for trauma care, which she said could cut up to 30 minutes off the time it takes to get trauma patients started on blood before reaching a trauma center.
Other Howard County recipients include a transportation-focused garage expansion, a historic-site acquisition and restoration project, an Indiana Health Centers dental-care expansion for underserved populations, and homelessness and outreach programs run by the Kokomo Rescue Mission/Bridges Outreach and Kokomo Urban Outreach.
What’s next
Foundation staff said they will stay engaged with all 20 grantees throughout the grant period to help ensure projects move forward as proposed, and plan to share updates on their progress. Because Lilly Endowment requires an accounting of how the funding was used, Moser urged grant recipients to respond promptly when the Foundation follows up for reporting information. “It’s just so important that you do that,” he said. “We’re not just trying to bother you. We have requirements that we need to meet too.”
Hemersbach also used the WILO and Boone 102.7 FM radio interview to promote two related Foundation programs: a continuing 2-for-1 “gift match” campaign tied to Lilly Endowment’s GIFT program (with Clinton County at roughly 46% of its new fundraising goal, Carroll County at about 10%, and Howard County at about 50%, as of Sept. 11), and a newly expanded “Gifts of Grain” option that lets farmers donate grain — now eligible for the match if directed to the Foundation’s unrestricted fund — with a giving deadline of June 2028. Farmers with questions can contact the Foundation at 765-454-7298 or through cfclinton.org, cfcarroll.org or cfhoward.org.
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About the Organizations
Clinton County Community Foundation: Established in 1996 as a not-for-profit charitable organization, with a mission to improve quality of life in the community through the accumulation and stewardship of enduring charitable gifts.
Carroll County Community Foundation: Established in 1997 as a not-for-profit charitable organization governed by a volunteer board of local citizens, with a mission to help donors make communities a better place to live.
Lilly Endowment Inc.: An Indianapolis-based private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in Eli Lilly and Company. The Endowment supports community development, education and religion nationally, with a special commitment to Indianapolis and Indiana.