Dubois County Community Foundation Awarded Additional $1.4 Million Grant To Strengthen Efforts Addressing Mental Health And Substance Use Disorders

Dubois County Community Foundation has been awarded a $1.4 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Community Leadership Implementation Grants program, part of the eighth phase of the Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VIII) initiative. This grant is one of 30 awarded statewide as part of GIFT VIII, which aims to strengthen the quality of life for Indiana residents by supporting the efforts of community foundations and their partners. 

The grant will enable the Community Foundation to expand its ongoing work in addressing mental health and substance use disorders in Dubois County. 

“We’re honored to receive this additional support from Lilly Endowment so we can continue to address this issue facing our community,” said Clayton Boyles, Executive Director of the Community Foundation. “Over the past five years, we’ve witnessed the transformative impact of investments in mental health initiatives. While significant progress has been made, there is more work to be done to close existing gaps and ensure a full continuum of care.” 

The Community Foundation collaborated with local nonprofit partners to develop additional strategies that expand on an initiative started in 2020, which was bolstered by a $4.4 million grant from Lilly Endowment. The new effort focuses on strengthening the continuum of care from prevention to treatment, ensuring more comprehensive support for individuals and families affected by mental health and substance use challenges. 

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 Lilly Endowment 
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.