Youth For Christ of Northern Indiana has received a grant of $1,000,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help expand its impact into new communities and increase the effectiveness of ministry to thousands of young people across Northern Indiana.
The program is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s initiative, Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana. The aim of the competitive initiative is to help youth-serving organizations working throughout Indiana improve their abilities to promote the academic, physical, and social well-being of young people, ages five through 18.
Youth For Christ of Northern Indiana has built a strategy for growth around the following goals:
- Expand impact in our schools.
- Expand impact in detention centers.
- Expand impact in urban neighborhoods.
- Expand impact through innovative fundraising.
And plans to increase our capacity to support this growth by
- Finding and keeping the best staff.
- Training & equipping staff.
“We are deeply grateful for the Lilly Endowment’s investment into the young people of our region,” says YFCNIN’s CEO, Chris Todia. “We are honored that they believe in the impact Youth for Christ is making in the lives of thousands of young people across our region.”
Youth For Christ of Northern Indiana is one of 187 organizations receiving grants through Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana.
“Indiana’s youth-serving organizations are crucial to the healthy development of children and youth across the state,’ said Ted Maple, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for education. “The challenges these organizations have faced in meeting the needs of young people in recent years have made their work increasingly difficult. Lilly Endowment is pleased to support their efforts to strengthen programs and serve more youth more effectively.”
Lilly Endowment launched Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana Initiative in 2022 with an invitational round of grants to nine national youth-serving organizations to help them expand and enhance the work of their Indiana affiliates or chapters.
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a 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. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff, and location. Although the Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, it maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.