Community Foundation Receives $30 Million to Tackle Housing Crisis
Funds will catalyze the creation of new homes, new neighborhoods, and make home ownership more attainable across the region
The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County has been awarded $30 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. through the Community Leadership Implementation Grants component of the eighth phase of its Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VIII) initiative. It received two of the 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 Community Foundation will use $10 million to move plans for a Western Avenue Transformation District forward. This collaborative project, undertaken with the Housing Authority of South Bend and the City of South Bend, marks a major step toward revitalizing the southwest portion of downtown South Bend. The Western Avenue Transformation District will create a vibrant mixed-income neighborhood, thoughtfully designed to meet the needs of our diverse community.
“Lilly Endowment’s $10 million award will help catalyze a beautiful new mixed-income Western Avenue neighborhood, as part of South Bend Vision 2045,” said Rose Meissner, President of the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County. “We are thrilled to partner with the Housing Authority and the City to make this dream a reality.”
A second grant of $20 million will be used to launch the South Bend – Elkhart Regional Housing Collaborative (“Housing Collaborative”) to increase the supply of affordable housing regionally, in collaboration with the Community Foundation of Elkhart County, the Marshall County Community Foundation, and MACOG.
This groundbreaking initiative directly addresses two critical challenges facing our region: the acute affordable housing shortage and the abundance of unproductive vacant properties. With this generous grant from Lilly Endowment, the Housing Collaborative will be able to drive progress in building new attainable housing units, transforming blighted properties into desirable homes, supporting homeownership, and strengthening our communities.
“Adequate and attainable housing is the foundation for strong communities and equitable economic development,” said Aaron Perri, Vice President, Community Impact at the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County. “This $20 million award represents a transformative opportunity to ensure housing security for families, revitalize neighborhoods, and foster long-term economic resilience.”
In 1990, Lilly Endowment launched the Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) initiative 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 diverse ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, occupations, races and cultural traditions about their communities’ most compelling needs and opportunities as well as the best ways to address them.
About the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County
Since 1992, the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County has been connecting people who care with causes that matter. With assets exceeding $300 million, the Community Foundation serves the people of St. Joseph County through initiatives and grantmaking in the areas of arts and culture, health and human services, youth and education, community development, and parks, recreation, and environment.
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is 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 their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. The Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, and maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.