Lilly Endowment Inc. awards $3.4 million to Community Foundation of Jackson County

A $3.4 million Lilly Endowment Inc. grant will help local collaborators tackle mental health and substance use disorder treatment and recovery in Jackson County.

The grant to the Community Foundation of Jackson County 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.

The GIFT VIII Implementation Grant provides essential funding to help address three primary components. Those projects include:

• Adding an out-patient mental health unit and pharmacy at Indiana Health Center in downtown Seymour, creating a Whole Health Connection Zone.
• Creating three substance use disorder recovery homes through Centerstone.
• Funding ongoing training for peer recovery coaches through 180 RCO and crisis intervention training for area first responders and health care providers through Anchor House.

In 1990, Lilly Endowment launched the Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow initiative, or GIFT, 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 different ages, backgrounds, occupations, races and cultural traditions about their communities’ most compelling needs and opportunities as well as the best ways to address them, Lilly Endowment said.

“The Foundation is excited for our community as this collaborative effort, which includes other commitments of $400,000 from local folks in addition to the Lilly Endowment grant, will bring much needed and absent services to those struggling with mental health issues and substance abuse across Jackson County,” Davis added.

Those other funding collaborators include the Jackson County Board of Commissioners/County Council, the City of Seymour, the Schneck Foundation, ASAP of Bartholomew County and the Community Foundation of Jackson County.

Also, partners in this community work have committed to $1.1 million in in-kind work and services over the first three years of operations.

“We believe this compassionate and passionate commitment of resources from our community partners truly strengthened our proposal,” said Ann Windley, chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. “We greatly appreciate the generosity of Lilly Endowment Inc. and its continuing commitment to help fund important work in communities across Indiana. We also greatly appreciate our local funding partners and those who will be delivering these much-needed services.”

The Lilly Endowment grant and local financial commitments mean that $3.8 million will be targeted toward this work, starting in 2025. That is when Indiana Health Centers Chief Executive Officer Ann Lundy expects work to start on rehabbing the building at 118 St. Louis Ave., which is attached to the nonprofit’s health center next door at 100 N. Chestnut St.

“This grant award reflects a transformative investment in our Jackson County community, enabling deeper partner collaboration to create a space where everyone can access holistic, stigma-free wellness care,” Lundy said of the grant and overall project. “It paves the way for improved quality of life, revitalized community and a brighter, healthier future for all.”

Also in 2025, Centerstone expects to open one substance use disorder recovery home to be followed by two others in 2026.

This month, the Foundation will establish three endowments. One will provide perpetual support dollars for the mental health unit at Indiana Health Center, and the others will provide perpetual support dollars for training of peer recovery coaches and crisis intervention team members. Those funds will pay out their first grants in spring 2026.

Currently, Indiana Health Center is an active collaborator with Schneck Medical Center, Catholic Charities of Indianapolis, 180 RCO, Centerstone, Anchor House, Jackson-Jennings Community Corrections and others. These proactive partnerships have developed an interdisciplinary, interagency and model of care and recovery for community members and their families affected by mental health and substance use, Lundy said.

In the past year alone, the center has supported the integration of individuals with lived experience in clinical settings, assisted in the development of a warm handoff program and “no wrong door” access approach to engage patients in substance use disorder treatment options, and community outreach to offer additional education, awareness and support to area residents.

For the recovery community in Jackson County, the grant and planned work holds great promise, Ben Beatty of 180 RCO said.

“Over the past 18 months, 180 RCO has gathered over 400 community surveys and hosted multiple town halls to engage the recovery community and key stakeholders,” Beatty said. “A clear priority emerged: recovery housing. With 180 RCO ramping up alongside new recovery housing and other recovery initiatives, our community is poised for significant growth in recovery-focused job opportunities.”

Beatty, who serves as the nonprofit’s executive director, is excited for the work to come. He is also employed as a recovery outreach coordinator with Centerstone.

“Thanks to the Lilly Endowment Gift VIII initiative, we will train and certify local residents, ensuring these roles are filled by those who understand our community’s needs,” he added. “This milestone was made possible through the collaboration of dedicated partners, and we are deeply grateful for their support.”