The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County was awarded $30 million from Lilly Endowment to tackle the housing crisis.
The funds will help catalyze the creation of new homes and neighborhoods and make home ownership more attainable across the Region.
The Community Foundation received two of the 30 implementation grants awarded through GIFT VIII, a statewide Lilly Endowment initiative. The initiative aims to support community foundations 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. The collaborative project, undertaken with the Housing Authority of South Bend and the City of South Bend, aims to revitalize the southwest portion of downtown South Bend.
“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, Community Foundation of St. Joseph County president, in a press release. “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. The initiative aims 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 initiative addresses the affordable housing shortage and the abundance of unproductive vacant properties. With the grant funds, the Housing Collaborative will work to build new attainable housing units, transform blighted properties into desirable homes and support homeownership.
“Adequate and attainable housing is the foundation for strong communities and equitable economic development,” Aaron Perri, Community Foundation of St. Joseph County vice president, community impact, said. “This $20 million award represents a transformative opportunity to ensure housing security for families, revitalize neighborhoods and foster long-term economic resilience.”
The Lilly Endowment launched the Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) initiative in 1990. Lilly Endowment is an Indianapolis-based private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly, Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. They created the foundation through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. The endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion.
