Indiana congregations and their community partners seek $2.5 million in grants, with decisions due Nov. 6
Congregations With Community, funded by Lilly Endowment through the Center for Congregations, stopped taking new applicants on Sept. 11. Its grants of $100,000 to $250,000 go to Christian congregations that take on one local problem with a partner such as a nonprofit.
Indianapolis. A program that pays Indiana congregations to work with a nonprofit or another local partner on a community problem is running its third round of grants, more than $2.5 million in all. Congregations With Community stopped taking new applicants on Sept. 11, and those it has invited must submit final applications by Oct. 12, according to its application guide. Decisions are due Nov. 6.
Congregations With Community is a division of the Center for Congregations in Indianapolis, funded by Lilly Endowment. Its announcement of the round, which opened on July 13, ran in local outlets in late August and early September. It said 51 grants had been made in its first two cycles and that more rounds are expected in 2027.
Who could apply
Grants of $100,000 to $250,000 go to Christian congregations in Indiana, or to a community development corporation a congregation founded. Each must take on one community challenge, such as homelessness, housing, literacy, teen pregnancy or employment, with one community partner registered in Indiana: another congregation, a nonprofit, a business, a school or a foundation, among others. Applications are by invitation only, after an information session and a joint meeting with one of the program's community engagement advisors, and a congregation can receive the grant only once.
The congregation and its partner must contribute 5 percent of the amount requested, $5,000 on a $100,000 grant. The money comes in two halves, at the start and about 18 months in. Up to 30 percent may go to capital and overhead costs, and none of it may pay salaries of the congregation's or the partner's staff.
Money is to be deposited in December and spent from January 2027 through December 2029, with a final report due Jan. 25, 2030. The guide says all dates are subject to change.
One partnership in Gary
The announcement pointed to a grant in Gary, where Flourish Church worked with Butterfly Dreamz, a youth development nonprofit. The grant helped create paid internships in which young people researched needs in their neighborhood and heard from peers that they lacked safe places to gather. That led to the revitalization of Elsie's Park, near West 25th Avenue and Morton Street, in which more than 100 young people took part and which drew more than $50,000 in additional support, the program said.
“If we feel like someone is already doing it, we can put our ego and logo to the side and say, how do we get underneath, how do we get around, how do we empower what is already happening.”
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