Your Community Foundation of White County has served this beloved community for 25 years, working toward strengthening and transforming White County by fostering charitable giving, philanthropic aspirations, and leadership. With an endowment holding over $14.4 million in assets, hundreds of community members have made the investment to support White County through this flexible, charitable tool. Our endowment consists of over 100 unique funds impacting many different areas of life in White County: the arts, health, downtown efforts, educational opportunities, and so much more.
As community foundations exist globally, it’s clear that localized philanthropy is a recognized tool to respond to the needs and opportunities that are unique to a particular community. Each of our funds were created by individuals, families, and organizations: local people to address local needs. As our community evolves, our response and efforts shift to appropriately create the greatest impact toward fulfilling our mission.
Recent leadership efforts have taken the form of hosting community conversations with Rural Community Solutions to learn from all different folks around the county about what it’s like to be a part of our community. This anecdotal data was compiled with quantitative data from Entrepreneurial Ecosystems to get a clear picture of White County. Emerging reports led us to dive even deeper with a gaps analysis data collection with Purdue Solutions Consulting.
All these efforts led the Community Foundation of White County to spend the next five years focusing on mental wellness in our community. That extends beyond just strengthening mental health care, but includes efforts around childcare, building protective factors in youth and families, and ensuring White County residents have a high quality of life.
While we have a focused area, our mission remains the same, and the groundwork that’s already been laid will continue to flourish.
So, what does “focusing on mental wellness” look like for your Community Foundation? Because mental health is a growing concern for many entities, we are participating in mental health convenings with local experts in this space to collaboratively work together on this issue. Childcare convenings are also taking place in the county to work toward expanding access, which is a growing concern for many families and employers.
Additionally, we are launching this year Mental Wellness Grants. Funded by unrestricted dollars made available to address ever-emerging needs, $50,000 is available this year to support mental wellness initiatives in White County. We are particularly interested in programs looking to expand access to mental health care, utilize evidence-based research to make an impact on mental wellness, reduce stigma around mental health, provide trainings for parents and youth workers, and build protective factors, particularly in young people.
When individuals in our community are healthy and thriving, our community thrives, too. To learn more about the Mental Wellness Grants and how you can get involved in our mission, log on to www.cfwhitecounty.org or reach out to director Lucy Dold at (574) 583-6911.
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