- We will go ahead and get started this evening, everybody. So good evening, everybody. And I would like
- to call to order of the Sophia Travis Services Grant Committee meeting. Today is Tuesday, October 7.
- Wow. Yeah, October 7, 2025. And we have a quorum here, so we will go ahead and get started. So I'd like
- to say for the record that we have here present in the Nattie Hill Room to do our tonight
- or to do tonight's business. We have committee member Julie Robertson, vice chair Liz Pytel and myself
- Jennifer Crossley as chair. So I think it's always fun and Cheryl Munson used to do this where she would
- give a committee member an opportunity to say something about themselves and what they're looking forward
- to. So I think I'm gonna do that and I'll start with our newest member. So go ahead.
- Thank you. Hi, everybody. My name is Julie Robertson. I am the newest appointed community member to
- the Sophia Travis Grant Committee. I'm very active in the community when it comes to volunteering. My
- husband and I, we
- donate a lot of our time and money and our cooking skills to various fundraising things in the in the
- in the city so some of you may have seen me see me on Facebook but I look forward to the opportunity
- to sit on this committee and hopefully make some really good decisions on how we allocate funds so thank
- you. So I'm Liz Fiddle I'm new to the county council I'm pleased to serve on the Sophia Travis grant
- committee I knew Sophia pretty well
- and I'm honored in serving on this committee to honor her in the work that she did and what we can continue
- to do as a community to help nonprofits. So I've read all the applications, so I'm up to sniff on that.
- I'm looking forward to hearing your presentations and looking forward to having discussions about what
- we can help do for each one of you. Thank you for being here.
- I'm gonna, it looks like we have committee member Jenny Olm-Stevens online. So I'm gonna ask her to
- unmute and just say a brief introduction of herself and then that'll give an opportunity for committee
- member Trent Deckert to get himself ready before he introduces himself. So Ms. Stevens, go ahead, please.
- Hello, this is Jenny. I am actually in downtown Cincinnati and I'll be watching you from Zoom.
- There was a wreck and a traffic jam and I got diverted, so that's why I'm a little late joining. Anyway,
- I'm a long-term volunteer in the community. I have done grant and program work for Indiana University
- and University of Cincinnati, and I've been an ardent supporter of our MCCSE schools.
- and a longtime volunteer there. I'm eager to hear your applications and your discussions. And I thank
- you very much for the work you do in our community. You really help in so many ways. Thank you very
- much. Hi, everybody. I'm sorry I'm late. I'm Trent Decker, an at-large member of the Monroe County Council
- and a member of this committee. I'm glad to be back. Sorry I'm late getting in here, but I'm so excited
- to see so many people
- graciously given from their time now that the rain has stopped. So it's good to be with you tonight.
- I'm Jennifer Crossley, also on Memorial County Council. And I've been gracious, humbled, and honored
- to be a part of the current committee for the four years that I've served on County Council. And I've
- got big shoes to fill with our dearly departed friend Cheryl Munson, who this was her baby. So again,
- I just appreciate all the work that she put into, but lastly, appreciate all the work and dedication
- that you all are doing in our community.
- Each and every day, as you see, there is instability or unstableness, rather, in federal government,
- state government, and sometimes here locally. But you all are doing the work in the community to provide
- folks that you serve some type of stability. And for that, we are forever grateful for you. So first
- things first.
- everybody was supposed to sign in. So if you have not had a chance and opportunity to sign in this evening,
- please go ahead and come up to the table here. You'll see a pin and you'll just need to sign in. And
- then the next thing that I'll do is go ahead and kick this back over to our vice chair Liz Pytel to
- kick us off on how we are going to proceed with tonight's meeting. Thank you.
- So the list I have says agencies must be a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization, grants primary areas
- eligible for support are food, nutrition, security, shelter, and health, transportation assistance,
- climate change, emergency shortages, first responder, veterans assistance, excellence in government,
- youth enrichment opportunities,
- And then the evaluation criteria of the application is completion of all required reports from previous
- Sophia Travis Grant cycle awards. Projects must primarily serve Monroe County residents. Extent to which
- dollar amount sought will accomplish the stated goals of the project. Extent to which the funds sought
- will leverage additional funds or assistance.
- for basic operational expenses will be considered but not given the highest priority.
- And once again, as a reminder, agencies this evening, as you are giving your presentation, you will
- have up to three minutes to speak regarding your application and project. The timer will be displayed
- in all of the screens here in the NatU Hill room. And you will be given a 30-second sound when you are
- close to being up. So again, you have three minutes, 30 seconds before your time is up, you will hear
- and then after that your time is up and so we ask you just for the sake of trying to get tonight's meeting
- rolling and to be respectful of everybody's time that you wrap up and then we proceed to the next person.
- Again presentations are not required and not
- that's considered to be an official part of the award process. So I know we have some people that could
- not be here due to illness and other kind of conflicts here. However, if there is an agency that will
- watch this later, you are not penalized for not being here. You turned in the application. You did a
- really good job in doing that. So we will proceed accordingly. And lastly, this evening's presentations
- from the agencies. Again, we will have no questions from the committee.
- public comment during the meeting. The presentation order has been amended to allow a single application
- and collaborative application from the same agency to follow each other in an effort to be considerate
- of everyone's time and everybody should have received the order of how you are going to proceed
- And so if you have, in order to kind of move a little expeditiously, I will ask, it looks like we have
- first up the Catholic Charities. And so if you have the order of your list, I'm just going to say the
- next person, just go ahead and start sitting up right here. So when you're done, you can just pop up
- to the podium here and so forth. So again, the next person after that is Girls Inc. If you are here,
- just go ahead and come up and sit in the seat. And then after that,
- We'll just, it's the gift that keeps on giving. So we'll just keep going until we are all done with
- tonight's presentation. So first up again, we have Catholic Charities. And then next up is Girls, Inc.
- after that. Are you with Catholic Charities?
- All right. Okay. So we'll proceed. And again, if you already have the list in front of you, as you see
- the next presenter, let's just keep it rolling here and come up. So because Catholic Charities is not
- here, we'll have Girls Inking after that writing for a change. All right. My name is Olivia Sullivan
- and I'm the Director of Operations at Girls Inking of Monroe County.
- At Girls Inca Monroe County, we serve girls of our community and are on a mission to inspire all girls
- to be strong, smart, and bold. We use evidence-based practices to create and deliver curriculum that
- meets our participants where they are and give them opportunities to grow academically, develop leadership
- skills, and overcome challenges. Our well-rounded programs range in content from SEL development to
- arts exploration to growing in sports and teamwork and so much more.
- so that every girl in Monroe County can find something to connect with at Girls Inc. We are experts
- at setting the safe and welcoming environment needed to help girls realize their true potential, whether
- we are at the center or meeting them in their classrooms. Over the last couple of years, Girls Inc.
- in Monroe County has served hundreds of girls in elementary and middle schools across Monroe County
- and surrounding areas. And we're growing.
- Our list of eight partnering schools is reaching 20 schools in the 2025-2026 school year. And we are
- seeking additional resources to support our foundational program, Mind and Body, during this expansion
- of our outreach programs in schools. Mind and Body is a comprehensive health and wellness program that
- is adaptable for all ages. There are four main content areas in this curriculum, including nutrition,
- physical activity,
- body image, and stress management, areas of life that affect girls on a daily basis. This program is
- truly a staple of the Girls Inc. experience, as it empowers participants to meet their needs, increase
- their confidence, care for their health, and equip them with lifelong skills.
- Girls who participate in the Mind and Body program show a growth in their knowledge of nutritional food
- groups, exercise, and coping strategies to help manage their stress. And they also develop an understanding
- of varying standards that allow them to appreciate beauty and the differences they see in themselves
- and others.
- The girls in national organization prepares a report on the status of girls from across the country
- by comparing data collected from girls and the girls in programming to their peers who do not participate.
- The most recent 25 findings are 73% of participants exercise at least 60 minutes for at least three
- days per week.
- They also found that 67% are happy with their bodies and 85% believe they can make a difference in their
- community. 93% agree with the statement, girls like me can be leaders. With the support of the Sophia
- Travis grant, Girls League of Monroe County is hoping to expand our reach and continue the positive
- growth of our mind body program. This grant will help
- help broaden our initiative lending to success of our school outreach partnerships and our response
- to the needs of the communities we serve. Girls Inc is committed to ensuring that every girl has the
- tools. Thank you. Thank you.
- And then next up, we'll have, after writing for a change, New Hope for Families. And again, it looks
- like we've seen a couple of people that have walked in and haven't signed in. If you haven't signed
- in, please go ahead and see Ms. Kim Schell at the front desk here, and please sign in. Thank you. Welcome.
- Hi. Hi. My name is Amy Cornell, and I'm with the Ready for Change Foundation of Bloomington. We are
- here to request $3,000 from the Sophia Travis Grant Fund.
- Over the past two years, after COVID, we've resurrected our girls writing programs. We've had some very
- successful Sunday afternoon programs called Girls Write. They were successful, a lot of, the reason
- that they were successful is because we partnered with the Girl Scouts who provided a lot of funding
- for us so that we could offer these programs free. So girls and teens would come to our center, which
- is called New Wings. It's over next to Middleway House on Washington Street. And we would have afternoon programs
- snacks, and a safe space for girls to write their stories, to write their poetry, and to express themselves.
- And we felt that they were wildly successful. We had over 30 girls on our mailing list, sometimes up
- to 18 girls in our center at the same time.
- writing stories and poems. At the end of this year, we were evaluating, and most of those girls who
- came to our Sunday programs were young girls, ages eight to about 12. So we are really seeing a need
- to expand our programming for teens. And what we envision is something called Friday Night Rites, where
- we have open our space on Friday evenings from seven to nine. We have facilitators there who are trained
- in our ways of holding safe space for girls and young women.
- And we hope to establish a series of bi-monthly programs for teens where they can write, we can have
- some snacks, and they can have an alternative to traditional Friday evening activities. Maybe they're
- not as interested in sports as some people, and I'd like to do something that's more along the lines
- of reading or writing and being with other girls and young women who like to read and write.
- The Girl Scouts are no longer participating with us, so we find ourselves in need for more funding,
- especially because we'd like to offer these programs free of charge to any girl that would
- like to participate. So we've asked for $3,000 to help us pay facilitators, pay for craft and hospitality
- expenses. Also, we do provide background checks on all of our facilitators, and those cost a little
- money. So anything you could give us would help to create these amazing programs for girls.
- and young women. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So I'm just going to do this. So the next three people
- that we have are New Hope for Families, St. Vincent de Paul, and Community Kitchen. So that is the order.
- So if those folks are here, you can sit in the seats here, and then you can proceed. Welcome.
- Ready? All right. My name's Chase Tekinton. I work at New Hope for Families. I want to thank you all
- for your dedication to our community, giving your time to consider how to best leverage Sophia Travis
- funds. We took a hard look at New Hope for Families activities, see which ones overlap best with the
- stated goals of Sophia Travis. Food, nutrition, security, shelter, health. We developed a request around
- an area we think touches most are all those issues, and that's our Early Learning Center's food program.
- As you're all aware, our community has a lack of affordable housing, the lack of affordable childcare.
- And put together, those two shortages mean that families, especially families with children birth to
- five, struggle to find decent, affordable childcare that would enable them to work enough hours to pay
- their rent and meet their basic needs. Today in Monroe County, anywhere between 30 and 40% of the individuals
- who are experiencing homelessness, 30 to 40% of the people who are in shelter or sleeping outside are
- members of a family with children.
- and you're most likely to experience homelessness, you're most vulnerable to it in your first year of
- age. I think those statistics really speak to the way the two issues of
- Child care and housing are intertwined. Families need child care so they can work, keep their homes.
- When child care is missing, we see people lose the other two downstream. They lose their income and
- they lose their housing. So as many of you are also aware, recent state funding cuts to the CCDF voucher
- program. That used to be the KC voucher. It helps working low income families afford child care. They
- lowered the weekly reimbursement rate.
- which exposes low-income families to much higher co-pays for childcare. Early Learning Indiana did a
- survey last month. They said 19% of childcare providers have already closed at least one classroom.
- 12% said they're at serious risk of closing their doors altogether, mainly because low-income families
- who were using the voucher are simply disenrolling because they can't afford the extra co-pays.
- Conversely, at New Oprah families, we're keeping families enrolled who need it. I can think of one family
- in a classroom whose parents are two years sober, thriving in employment. Another one in the same classroom
- who was experiencing homelessness but in the last two years has since left her abuser. Another family
- finished her CNA in the last two years. That's just one classroom, just a couple kids who were experiencing
- homelessness now. Their parents are thriving in their careers. Their children are meeting or experiencing
- exceeding developmental milestones at a time in their lives when they, by all rights, might have been
- falling behind, having losses in social and emotional skills that are much harder to correct for later
- in life. So our communities always come around homelessness and child care with generosity and vision.
- Today, families affected by homelessness can enroll in the ELC for just $10 a week while they're in
- shelter. And as a result, the shelter moves 80% of families to affordable leases compared to an average
- of just 32% across the state. And more of our children can remain enrolled.
- after they leave the shelter. So the grant funds we're requesting will in particular support our food
- program that serves 70 children, more than 30,000 meals per year, the majority of whom come, so more
- than 70% come from our county's most vulnerable families, those experiencing homelessness. Thanks for
- your consideration. Thank you.
- My name is Bob Zur and I'm president of the Bloomington St. Vincent DePaul Society serving Monroe County.
- Our mission is to provide safety net services for families and individuals in our community who are
- often suffering, forgotten or deprived. The working poor, the homeless, those who have been incarcerated
- and all people living on the margins of society.
- We have no paid staff and last year 70 plus volunteers donated over 20,000 hours of service to assist
- 2,422 households or 4,846 community members, many of which were children. We provided over $200,000
- in financial assistance and collected and distributed over 6,000 pieces of furniture
- and 336 appliances. The furniture and appliances we collect and distribute not only benefit those in
- the community, but we also benefit the community at large by keeping those items out of the landfills.
- This year we are requesting a total grant of $11,560 to purchase 40 twin, 40 full,
- and 40 queen size platform bed frames and 50 adjustable standard bed frames. Platform bed frames do
- not require box springs, which will also help to alleviate a chronic box spring shortage. Besides getting
- the bed off the floor, a bread frame helps provide support for better sleep and prevents mold, insects,
- and dirt from getting in or on the mattress.
- In the last 12 months, St. Vincent de Paul distributed 713 mattresses, but only 623 bed frames, meaning
- there was a shortage of 90 bed frames. Without last year's Sophia's Traverse grant, which allowed us
- to purchase 80 bed frames, we would have been short 170 bed frames. Anticipating a similar
- 170 bed frame shortage in the next 12 month period without grant funding, the St. Vincent de Paul has
- structured this year's request to meet that need. By providing beds with frames, St. Vincent de Paul
- helps to restore normality and dignity to the lives of its clients. Because queen beds and some full
- beds will be used to be
- by more than one person, 170 bed frames will help an estimated 200 to 250 individuals in Monroe County.
- Thank you for considering this request and for supporting many causes in Monroe County.
- I'm Kimberly going I'm development manager for a community kitchen of Monroe County Community kitchen
- is the largest free meal provider in this area in 2024 we provided three hundred and two three hundred
- two thousand meals to community members in need this year in 2025 we're already over two hundred and
- ten thousand
- meals and snacks served, not only to adults but to children. Our mini programs include our dinner meal
- service, which is Monday through Saturday, 4 to 6 p.m., open to anyone who's in need of a meal. We have
- our Main Street location on South Rogers, our express location that's located in the Crestmont community,
- and then our food truck. Our food truck goes
- on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, has a Bloomington-based route, which, by the way, just added two new
- stops to make it five stops based strictly on community need and hearing from community members that
- those in the area needed additional food. Our food truck also travels to Alexville and focuses on senior
- low-income
- facilities, and that's on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays. We also have our children's programs, our
- summer food service program that set a new record high this summer. That's where we go into 10 low income
- communities in the county and provide a free lunch. This year in the 11 week time period of the program,
- we distributed almost 8,000 lunches.
- Our backpack buddies program is our other child-based program, and we average on that between 550 and
- 560 backpacks a week. Just that program alone takes two and a half tons of food every week. We depend
- on community members, we depend on volunteers, and our staff, of course, play a huge role in all of
- these programs.
- We work with the area 10 agency on aging for our senior links to provide meals to homebound seniors
- in our area and then we work with IU health and their positive links program to provide Homebound to
- provide meals to homebound residents that are HIV positive We're asking for food support As you can
- can understand we go through a lot of food every week
- We make in our kitchen every day 800 meals. That all gets out in the community. So we appreciate this
- opportunity, but also the consideration for this funding. So we also have a collaborative grant. To
- speak to that is Adelina. Hey, everyone. How are you today?
- So, Vicki Pierce asked me to come in and talk about the collaborative grant as I've been helping manage
- sort of all 14 agencies getting together and talking about how we're going to do this together. I will
- be coming back later as the director of community engagement for stone belt but in this specific instance
- I'm talking as CPR B town.
- So I've been teaching first aid and CPR through the American Heart Association for the last 15 years,
- and I opened my operation about a year and a half ago. Last year, the county council helped us run a
- program with 14 nonprofits to train 198 nonprofit staff and volunteers in our community in first aid
- CPR. Based on the sheer number of individuals trained,
- at least two lifesaving incidents that I was told about. This program was a resounding success. So for
- last year's funding, I just want to say thank you for all of that funding and making sure that our community
- is a safer place. I'm proud to collaborate with a new group of local nonprofits this year to make CPR
- and first aid training more accessible to the people who need it most. So through my work, I've trained
- literal thousands of people across Montenegro County, from nurses and teachers to childcare workers
- and volunteers.
- One thing I've learned in just knowing, working in the nonprofit field for so long is that most nonprofit
- organizations can't afford to have their own CPR trainer on staff. And training one up, as soon as you
- do, they end up leaving for other opportunities. And calling someone in to train your staff regularly
- is also very expensive. And the people who need these programs are also the same people who
- can't afford them. So the clients these agencies serve, people with disabilities, survivors of violence,
- seniors, individuals experiencing homelessness, are often those with the most significant and complex
- health needs. These are the very people who benefit most from having trained staff around them. So this
- project, working with these nonprofits, is about closing that gap.
- working together with 14 local nonprofits this year. We'll share training space and create courses that
- no single agency can accommodate on its own. This program moves costs as a barrier and ensures that
- teams are ready to respond when an emergency happens. Community Kitchen is acting as the lead agency,
- and I, as CPRB town, will be providing the training itself. The organizations involved in this collaborative
- grant are the Community Kitchen of Monroe County, All-Star Imagination, Bloomington Bicycle Club, Bloomington Center
- for Global Children, Bloomington Refugee Support Network, Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, Monroe County
- CASA, Down Syndrome Family Connection, Harmony School, Hoosier Hills Food Bank, Jewish Theater
- of Bloomington, Monroe County Humane Association, Sojourn House, Wild Care. Collectively reaching about
- 18,000 people in Monroe County of who they work with. These agencies together are requesting about $11,050
- to train 170 staff members and volunteers.
- with your support through the Sophia Travis Community Service Grant, we can ensure that every organization
- has access to life-saving education that no nonprofit in Monroe County has to choose between funding
- its mission and keeping its people safe. Thank you. Thank you. Hello. Stop. I'm sorry. I just really
- want to introduce our people before. We got New Leaf, New Life, Community Culture, Inc., and Grace Center.
- Please proceed. I am Heather from New Leaf New Life. Hello. New Leaf New Life supports individuals impacted
- by involvement in the justice system. Our values are transformative justice, collaboration and advocacy.
- We work inside the Monroe County Correctional Center and at our transitional support center.
- At our transitional support center, we provide folks with reentry services, peer recovery coaching,
- employment referrals, work shoes, clothing, housing lists, referrals to other social service agencies
- and birth certificates. We're continuing to see a great need in our community with folks having difficulty
- accessing different forms of transportation.
- As reported by the Policy Research Associates, people reentering the community from jail or prison often
- face specific challenges related to transportation, described as the four A's, affordability, accessibility,
- applicability, availability, and awareness. Many individuals do not have the financial means to own
- a car or regularly use
- public transportation. Returning citizens may lack appropriate identification to get a driver's license
- or may have an infraction such as a DUI that keeps them from using a car even if they have one. Long-term
- stability access to reliable transportation are essential for employment and social service appointments,
- but lack of funds, proper identification, and awareness of available services creates significant barriers.
- Our clients experience some of these difficulties in being able to travel to job interviews,
- 12-step meetings, work for social service agencies, the BMV and other resources needed to be successful.
- We are requesting funding in the following areas. Bus tickets. So far in 2025, we've given out 2,463
- bus tickets to our clients who've recently been released. So they're able to travel within Monroe County
- to find employment, attend meetings, obtain personal documentation, and a myriad of other tasks that
- we all need to do in our everyday lives. We expect these requests to continue to increase in the coming
- months, given the cost of gas, cost of maintaining a vehicle, and issues with securing employment.
- Gas cards. The request for gas cards comes from our clients has increased this year. They have very
- few resources and folks who may not or may have a car or have someone to drive them to appointments
- but don't have the means to buy gas. We've seen this need increase in our community and we've been asked
- by other social service agencies if this is something that we can provide.
- According to the prison policy initiative, gas cards are a short-term solution that help cover immediate
- expenses, giving a person time to secure employment and build financial independence. We're also seeking
- funding for Greyhound bus tickets to assist people who are wanting to go to treatment for substance
- use or mental health barriers outside of the county so they can get there in a quick time and have a
- better chance of recovery.
- So we are seeking $5,350. This will impact at least 1,100 of our participants. Transportation is an
- important part of our community. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Thank you. Hi, my name is Gavin
- Everett. I'm the founder and CEO of Community Culture, Inc.
- It's a non-profit started here in Monroe County for the members of Monroe County. Community Culture
- respectfully submits this proposal to the Sophia Travis Community Service Grants Program in support
- of our project, Bob's Garden, a food oasis for Monroe County. Located on a donated 7,500 square foot
- parcel in Bloomington, this garden will serve as a centralized grow site dedicated to producing and
- distributing fresh, locally grown produce to local food pantries and kitchens serving Monroe County
- residents in need.
- Community culture believes food is a basic human right, and yet many in our community struggle to access
- healthy, affordable options. In fact, Monroe County outperforms the state average and national average
- in food insecurity rates, which I find shocking for us. With rising grocery prices, gaps in
- public transportation, and longstanding
- Disinvestment in food systems. Thousands of Monroe County residents rely on organizations like Community
- Kitchen of Monroe County, Pantry 279, and Mother Hubbard's Cupboard to meet their nutritional needs.
- Community Kitchen alone, we just heard, serves so many meals, more like 2,000 meals a week.
- These organizations do life-saving work, but their budgets are strained, and they often depend on expensive
- or unpredictable produce donations. Community culture was formed to meet this gap head on.
- Our mission is to grow food where it's needed most and build systems of care that are rooted in community,
- collaboration, and culture. We do this by turning donated land into productive garden spaces we call
- Food Oasis. These are vibrant, community-built sites designed to produce nutrient-rich vegetables while
- educating and empowering local residents. We work alongside volunteers, partner nonprofits, landowners,
- and neighborhood leaders to co-create spaces that reflect the values and needs of the people they serve.
- Bob's Garden is our flagship site and at the heart of this new model. It honors the memory of Bob, a
- former Vietnam vet who just recently passed after losing his battle to cancer from Agent Orange
- complications. He believed deeply in giving back and donated food from his own garden to all of his
- friends. With this space, we aim to grow more than just food. We want to cultivate connection, dignity,
- and resilience.
- We are requesting funding to expand and improve the infrastructure at Bob's Garden so we can increase
- production and improve access for the upcoming growing season. Specifically, we will use these funds
- to purchase raised beds, soils, seeds, and tarps. These improvements will help us overcome the site's
- existing challenges of, namely, poor soil quality and ground pests. And it will help us create a more
- inclusive, efficient growing environment. Thank you. Thank you.
- I'm Vicki Sorensen and I'm president of the Gray Center Inc. Board of Trustees. Gray Center Inc. is
- a 501c3 food pantry serving the townships of Clear Creek, Indian Creek, and Polk in Monroe County. Our
- pantry is located at the Clear Creek Trustee's office in Harrettsburg and we're open on Thursdays from 3 p.m.
- to 6 p.m. It's the goal of the Gray Center Inc. to provide food that is nutritious as well as promote
- social interaction with our shoppers.
- We receive food donations from individuals, organizations, and the Hoosier Hills Food Bank. Additionally,
- we rely on grants and charitable monetary contributions to purchase perishable food, staples like milk,
- eggs, and bread, as well as non-perishable items like canned goods. We strive to provide fresh produce
- and a meat item each week. Our volunteers purchase these items as needed
- Currently, we are serving 25 to 33 families each week. And as a small pantry, it doesn't take long for
- our shelves to go bare. So on behalf of the Gray Center Board of Trustees, we want to thank the Sophia
- Travis Grant Committee for your time in the process of working toward helping many different organizations
- like us in the community. Thank you. Next up, we will have Seven Oaks.
- Hands Full of Hope, and the Kansas Support Community Center of South Central Indiana. Good evening.
- My name's Hannah Hirsch, and I serve as the Director of Development for Seven Oaks Classical School.
- Thanks for having me tonight. I'd like to imagine 10 years from now, Monroe County is home to dozens
- of young adults who once sat in our Ellitsville classroom. They're engineers, nurses, small business
- owners, nonprofit leaders, but more than that,
- There are citizens who are thinking deeply, acting with virtue, and care for their neighbors. What if
- every local child, regardless of their financial circumstances, had access not only to rigorous academics,
- but also that mentorship, moral formation, and basic stability they need to flourish? That isn't a fantasy
- to us. It's a vision at the heart of our Seven Oaks mission. And in just 10 years, we've grown from
- about 160 students
- to nearly 600 serving kindergarten through high school graduation. Though we receive roughly 40 percent
- less per pupil funding than nearby district schools. We open our doors to all families in Monroe County
- as a tuition free open enrollment public charter school. Yet we are often misunderstood and in fact
- I'm guilty myself of assuming Seven Oaks represented in a particular ideology when in truth we exist
- for something far simpler.
- to give every child from every background the support, challenge, and community that allows them to
- not just be educated, but to become whole. Tonight, I'm requesting $5,500 for two initiatives that extend
- that mission.
- Firstly, $500 to cover AP chemistry exam fees. This support is for students with limited means who were
- caught off guard when the state recently reduced its assistance for AP testing. These students have
- poured their time, effort, and intellect into mastering college-level science and should not have to
- choose between financial strain and the chance to prove themselves and earn that college credit.
- And $5,000 to expand our backpack blessing program
- Because our school does not yet have a cafeteria, families pack lunches from home, and some face real
- food insecurity. In fact, over 15% of our students qualify for free and reduced lunches. This program
- discreetly fills that gap by providing free healthy lunches, weekend and holiday meals that are nutritious,
- balanced, and dignified. While these two areas may seem very distinct, they are deeply connected. When
- a child grows up well nourished with both mind and character cultivated,
- The ripple effects reach far beyond our school walls. With a foundation and good nutrition, we see healthier
- children and fewer chronic conditions later in life. And when barriers like testing fees are removed,
- students feel their community standing behind them, and they grow into adults who give back, who vote
- thoughtfully, who volunteer locally, mentor others, and strengthen the civic life of Monroe County.
- Thank you for your consideration.
- Yes. We do not have a sign in for the cancer support community. Okay, so if there's anybody here for
- Cancer Support Center, again, please see Ms. Kimschel and sign in and we'll proceed. Thank you. Hello,
- my name is Raheem McMillan.
- We are founders of Hands Full of Hope, a local nonprofit started in 2003. Our mission is to bridge the
- gap between people and resources with our programs and services, as well as being a connection to local
- resources. Our current initiative, we are asking for $5,000 for our mobile boutique. By buying a box
- truck, we will outfit it for the storage of the many donations we collect in exchange for tax deductions.
- In turn, we give these clothes and shoes away, free of charge to low-income families and the homeless.
- This grant will transform this service of Hands Full of Hope from a local effort where we use our personal
- vehicles with drop-offs and pickups to a reliable and scalable service. This mobile boutique will immediately
- triple our capacity to deliver clean and quality clothing directly to those who need it most. We are
- ready to drive this vision forward, and we just need
- the last moving piece for this next step. We have served about 350 people as of date. And yeah, we're
- ready to take the next steps. Thank you. Thank you. Nobody. OK. All right. Next up we will have SCAP,
- Writers Guild, and Middle Way House.
- I'm the Director of Programming for SCAP, and I am here to talk with you all about the Winter Resource
- Fair. Thank you for having us here to talk about the Winter Resource Fair. We're both pretty short,
- so it's probably a good idea. Can I start my three minutes over?
- I'm the Director of Programming for SCAP. Thank you for having us here to talk about the Winter Resource
- Fair. I'm gonna give a very brief introduction to the agency, and then my colleague Kaylee Smith is
- gonna talk more about the event. So SCAP has been providing services to low-income families since 1965.
- Our programming is designed to help families attain personal and economic independence, and never to
- just be a directionless handout.
- We offer robust, multifaceted family development and financial wellness planning, a program called Growing
- Opportunities, home weatherization, housing choice voucher rental assistance, and the low income energy
- assistance program that helps with winter utility bills. We also have early childhood education through
- Head Start for ages three to five, and early Head Start from birth to three. So the program we're here
- to talk about is covering kids and families, health insurance navigation,
- So I'm going to hand this over to Kaylee Smith. She is the program director for covering kids and families.
- All of our services are critical for families who are struggling and can serve as a lifeline. But in
- the case of the Winter Resource Fair, that lifetime can be literal. So with that segue. Hi.
- Covering Kids and Families, or CKF for short, is a statewide program that runs health insurance assistance
- out of local organizations. CKF of SCAP covers Monroe, Brown, and Owen counties. CKF provides assistance
- with applying, understanding, and maintaining health insurance. We can assist with Medicaid, Marketplace,
- or work insurances, and we work with the client until they have a resolution to their case, whatever
- it may be.
- CKF of scap can help anyone but we have prioritized our unhoused population as we believe it is an essential
- step in becoming stable without health care. It is extraordinarily difficult to build a productive fulfilling
- life. We've organized the recent
- The Winter Resource Fair for anyone who is unhoused or at the risk of becoming unhoused for the last
- two years. Beyond the normal advertising, the day before the event, we go out on foot to different camps
- and shelters to invite people to the event, in which we have gotten over 100 attendees the last two years.
- The day of the event, attendees will be able to walk through all the tablers and get resources. They
- then have a meal ticket to get some hot soup, water, and bakery items. In the past, we've also been
- able to supply take-home snacks for attendees as well. We have free tables, stocked with blankets, stretch
- pants, warm clothes, socks, hats, gloves, and more. And while they are going through tables, they are
- going to get stamps on their passports that they can then use
- to put into raffle items such as hard shell suitcases, bikes, mummy sleeping bags, survival kits, hiking
- backpacks, and other items to help survive the winter while living outdoors. The Winter Resource Fair
- allows our unhoused community to really grasp all the resources that are available to them in Monroe
- County. Thank you. Thank you.
- My name is Molly Gleason. I'm a volunteer with the Writers Guild at Bloomington. I've been a volunteer
- for over two years. The Writers Guild at Bloomington was created in 2010 by a group of local writers
- wanting to support other writers by offering readings, open mics, and other literary opportunities.
- What began as a small 501c3 nonprofit grew into a still small 501c3 nonprofit that does a lot with very little.
- We have a three-member board and a group of dedicated volunteers who run our social media, website,
- scholarship program, an ongoing writing workshop, and other programming, including three reading series
- each month. First Sunday prose, second Thursday spoken word, and last Sunday poetry. Each event has
- at least two featured readers and wraps up with an open mic where anyone who has something to read in
- front of an audience may.
- The Writers Guild has also hosted many other events, including a local author book fair last year at
- the Monroe County History Center, Poetry on Demand and Spoken Word Stage at the 4th Street Festival
- every year, along with other places, and countless collaborations with musicians and other artists.
- This November, we're hosting award-winning author Aminata Forna for a talk, The Power of Storytelling
- at the Monroe County Library. And all of our programs are free and open to the public.
- This application is specifically for the first Sunday prose reading series held at the first of the
- month at the Juniper Art Gallery. We would be thrilled to receive this grant. We're asking for $1,500
- as a way to offer some compensation for our venue and to offer honoraria for our featured readers. The
- Writers Guild greatly values our collaborations of all sorts, but in particular those with local businesses
- like the Juniper Art Gallery. We know local
- businesses are hurting, and if we could help for something to help out with that, we would be grateful.
- The First Sunday Pros reading series has often worked with other organizations and featured readers
- from many, including Vital at the library, which is volunteers and teaching adult learners, Women Writing
- for a Change, Stone Belt, and the Monroe County History Center, to name a few. Our themes for this series
- have featured writers for Voices of the Incarcerated, Developmental Disability Awareness Month,
- Teachers and Students National Literacy Month, Pride Month, and more. In the near future, we'll feature
- Farm Memoir, Indiana History, and Asian and Asian American and Pacific Islander Month. The Writers Guild
- is always looking for ways to collaborate with other organizations and to build community. And the Sophia
- Travis Grant would help us continue this part of our mission. Thank you.
- Next up is Ivy Tech Community College Eclipse Productions Company and Restore Habitat for Humanity of
- Monroe County. No, you didn't sign in. You're with Middlwell. Oh, I was just asking. I didn't see Middlwell.
- I was making sure. I'm just making sure I didn't jump somebody. No, you're good. OK. Sorry.
- Hi, my name is Sam Udak. I'm the Director of Grant Development at Ivy Tech Bloomington. And I just wanted
- to add some additional context for you guys and hopefully give you some a few seconds back tonight for
- our application. The expansion of the food pantry at Ivy Tech is part of a continued effort to maintain
- a pretty robust series of wraparound services for students on campus. And we finally started seeing
- on-campus enrollment grow again in the post-COVID era. It was a lot of online students for a long time,
- but we're seeing a pretty significant surge.
- and folks taking classes on campus. There are other food pantries, there are other food banks in the
- area, but for a lot of our students that are in need of these services, a lot of times the choice is
- gas in your car gets you to campus or it gets you somewhere else. It's a significant percentage. It's
- hard to tell because it's hard to get the reporting together, but we're fairly certain the majority
- of our students that are on campus are in the lower three AMI brackets.
- So food insecurity is sort of skyrocketing. Food cost is obviously skyrocketing as a driver of that.
- And we've started placing a greater emphasis on stocking, using, and promoting the food pantry. So just
- this semester alone, we've had 42 households of three or more people serve to date. And so we're talking
- like two months. That means it's not just students. It's students and their spouses and their children.
- We've had 64. And these are all self-reported. That's part of the problem. We don't require any kind
- of disclosure of information to get folks.
- the food they need, but we have at least 64 Monroe County households. At least 80 students have voluntarily
- signed in. But based on the amount of food being taken and our general expectation, we think it's a
- lot closer to 125 students just this semester. So we're talking mid-August to right now. So our initial
- estimate was about 500 students served in a year, and it's looking like that'll be a lot closer to 650.
- The original food pantry was basically a set of two shelves and it was like a granola bar if you forgot
- your lunch to campus and we're expanding from a little bit of shelving to a full 10 by 20 room.
- The financial request in this application is straight food purchasing, and that's to allow us the leeway
- to be able to purchase the freezers and the refrigeration necessary to continue to stock additional
- fresh produce, eggs, protein, yogurt, cheese, that kind of thing. Those are the things that students
- consistently are in the highest demand for. We're also trying to add gluten-free items and vegan items
- to respect.
- widest range possible of dietary restrictions and needs. We consistently get glowing feedback with the
- selection available in the food pantry from students. We had a nursing student recently tell us that
- the food pantry on campus fed her for two years. And she didn't say anything to us about it until she
- was a week away from graduation.
- We've had people tell us the food pantry has allowed them to feed their entire family. And so we know
- for a fact we have students relying on that. And that is the driving motivation for this. Right now
- it's open two full days a week. We have ongoing plans to expand it hopefully to five days a week between
- new employees coming in and exploring different volunteer efforts. And I think that's it. Thank you
- for your time. Thank you for your consideration. It's good to see you guys. Great. Thank you.
- OK. Hello. My name is Shana Serval, and I serve as the development director for Eclipse Productions
- Company. We are an all-volunteer local nonprofit theater company. Eclipse was founded on a simple but
- radical idea that high quality theater should belong to everyone, not just those who can afford it and
- not just those who have already made it in the industry. It is our mission to empower local talent through
- economic and professional development,
- and to break down traditional barriers with affordable theater for all.
- Eclipse is proud to be the only theater company in town that offers pay-what-you-will ticketing for
- every performance, ensuring that cost is never a barrier to accessing live theater. In just two years,
- Eclipse has grown from an idea shared by a few passionate artists into a professional company employing
- over 70 local artists, paying out more than 10,000 in artist stipends, and reaching over 900 audience
- members in Bloomington and Monroe County.
- We serve our community in two key ways. The first is by empowering artists. Every actor, every designer,
- and every technician we hire is local. We offer professional training, real-world work experience, and
- resume building credits that help emerging artists take the next step in their careers without having
- to leave Bloomington to do it. Second, we enrich the community.
- Our productions go beyond the stage, from family game nights, to live music in the lobby, to talk backs
- with health professionals and local leaders. Every event is designed to connect people, to
- spark conversations, belonging, and joy. We are not just putting on plays. We are building a community
- through storytelling. We're requesting $10,250 in funding, which will go directly towards artist stipends,
- AKA the heart of what we do.
- Paying our artists fairly is not just an expense. It's an investment in the people that bring art to
- life. These stipends currently account for 30% of our total budget. We can continue offering meaningful
- paid opportunities for local talent while keeping our productions affordable for all with your support.
- At Eclipse, we believe that when artists thrive, communities thrive.
- I want to thank you for considering our work and for helping us keep the lights on, both on stage and
- in the hearts of the people that we serve. Thank you. Great. Next up, we have Restore. And then the
- next three after that is some Sobresma Foundation? Sobremesa. Sobremesa, sorry.
- So promissive foundation, courage to change, and then beacon. Evening. Thanks a lot for all the work
- you guys do. I know it's really a hard thing to get through this. Restore, what we do is we sell gently
- used goods, household goods, and the money goes to Habitat, and they build houses with the money.
- So we keep looking for things to do more and to be better. So this year, with that in mind, we're requesting
- $8,750 to help create a program to feed our volunteers, and about $180 to make some t-shirts for them.
- The Feeding Our Volunteer program will provide nutritional food to our volunteers. You can describe
- it as a small lunch. You can describe it as some supplemental food.
- Each week, we have about 47 shifts, 47 opportunities with the people that are volunteering at our store
- to give them some of this food and to feed them kind of lunch. So that ends up being about
- 2,300 opportunities for a year to feed them. Volunteers at our store come from, they are income eligible.
- There's only one that I can think of that
- is not an income eligible individual. And what they are doing, what we're doing is getting them their
- future homeowners, their persons who are completing community service, their refugees who are in our
- program to work at our store. We're a fundraising organization.
- entity for Monroe County. We're a 5013C and we try to generate the money to go to Habitat. Every time
- we do anything that helps us not spend our money for the program, it helps allow more unrestricted funds
- go to building houses in Monroe County right here in our community. I'm doing really good. You are.
- So the Feeding Our Volunteers program will not only help people directly by giving them some food in
- our store when they're there, but it'll also help get more money to Habitat. I really thank you for
- consideration.
- If there's any questions you have later, you can email me. If you want to come volunteer at Restore,
- you can come down to Restore and volunteer, give us a call, and we'll put you to work. And thanks a
- lot for what you do. Thank you.
- Hi, good afternoon. Thank you to the Sophia Travis Grant Committee for the opportunity to share our
- vision. I'm Robert Frew, along with my partner, Juan Carlos Arango. We operate Sober Mesa Farm in Bloomington
- on the east side. In 2024, we founded the Sober Mesa Foundation, Inc. It's a 501C3.
- nonprofit to address something we saw missing in our local food system. That was a bridge for newcomers
- and marginalized farmers to find belonging, purpose, and opportunity through the soil and learn about
- environmental stewardship. Our project, Growing New Farmers and New Lands, is an incubator-style program
- designed to support refugees and immigrants who have agricultural experience that face barriers to restarting
- their livelihoods here in Indiana.
- Over the last two years, we've worked closely with Exodus Refugee Immigration, volunteers, and local
- partners to help refugees find work and healing and farming. After training and employing four newly
- resettled individuals at Sobremesa Farm, we realized the power of this connection and the need to build
- something lasting. Through the incubator, we'll offer a 10-week paid internship in regenerative agriculture,
- They learn practical hands-on skills, soil preparation, crop planting, composting, business development,
- and how to market culturally relevant crops. Training will take place at Sober Mesa Farm and nearby
- leased land on the east side of Bloomington. We'll partner with local churches whose congregations include
- many recent arrivals and the Center for Rural Engagement in Indiana University.
- These relationships ensure that participants are supported not just as trainees, but as members of a
- growing community network.
- Our goals are clear, grow new farmers by offering paid supported training to refugees and limited resource
- individuals, build food sovereignty by helping them grow crops that reflect their culture and traditions,
- create economic opportunity through market sales, CSA programs, and future employment, and ultimately
- establish land access pathways through partnerships with land trust and USDA programs, ensuring that
- today's trainees can become
- tomorrow's farm owners.
- Sober Mesa Farm was honored to be featured in Farm Aid 2023, and that partnership helped us secure seed
- funding to begin developing this program. With support from the Sophia Travis Grant, we can take that
- to the next step, launching our first cohort in 2026 and creating a lasting model for inclusive, regenerative
- farming right here in Monroe County. At its heart, the Sober Mesa Foundation believes that farming is
- more than food production, it's a path toward
- healing, and empowerment. With your support, we can grow not just crops, but new roots of community
- and opportunity for families rebuilding their lives in Indiana. Thank you.
- My name's Marilyn Grimes. I'm the executive director, co-founder of Courage to Change. We're a local
- nonprofit. We're sober living. We have five houses here in Bloomington. We have 41 clients, three of
- our houses for males only, and two of our houses are female only. We take most of our clients that come
- to us are coming out of jail or the county jail or the state penitentiary.
- Correctional facilities many times when they come to us
- They do not have anything. They don't have any rent money. We don't charge for them to come to us. We
- don't have a deposit or that sort of thing. We charge 580 a month for them to live there. But they have
- two weeks to get a job. But within that first two weeks, they just don't have any income. So with the
- grant that we are asking, it will cover
- two weeks of their rental until they're employed and get a paycheck. And that kind of relieves them
- from the pressure of feeling like they're going to get in trouble. But we don't kick people out for
- not having money. We just try and work with them. So we're asking for $4,035 for the rental assistance.
- Our clients are allowed to stay for one year. We ask them to sign a 90-day contract. We do want them
- to stay for at least three months because we're basically trying to help them get into new habits and
- get on with their life. But if they do and then they want to move out, it's really difficult.
- and Bloomington's got high rent, high deposits, and then you have utilities and all these things. So
- we are asking for $3,000, and this is a move out fund. So it would give six clients $500 each. That
- would go against utilities or if they need it for the deposit. It does not go to the client, it goes
- straight to the
- rental property or the utility company. And then that will help them find a place of their own and be
- successful. That's our goal. Thank you so much for your time and thank you for listening. Bye.
- I'm Amy Kendall. I'm the development director at beacon Beacon's mission is to aid and empower people
- experiencing extreme poverty especially hunger and homelessness We are respectfully requesting six thousand
- seven hundred and twenty dollars for ten mattresses and four bunk beds that is for our overnight shelter
- friends place so
- Friends Place is a really important part of our mission. It's got 40 beds. It's the largest women's
- emergency shelter in the area. Primarily the 40 beds are for women, although we do have male and gender
- non-binary guests as well.
- And in 2024, Friends Place sheltered 269 people for over 14,000 bed nights. And we also offer casework.
- We believe in permanent solutions also, not just being a shelter, not just being a place for people
- to stay, but also casework to help people find housing and get stability in the longterm.
- So the need is important here with the mattresses and bunk beds because
- A lot of the bunk beds and mattresses are not in great shape right now. And in fact, some of the bunk
- beds were actually having to put boards down to stabilize them. And we did have one guest fall through
- the bunk. Luckily, it was on the bottom bunk, so they were not hurt. But they're in that bad of shape.
- The mattresses have tears, holes. They're not comfortable. And when you think, you know, I
- wouldn't want to sleep on a mattress with holes and tears. So we don't want our guests to either. And
- we feel that our guests deserve dignity, a safe and comfortable place to stay. For a lot of these folks,
- it could be one of the scariest moments of their lives. If they weren't at friend's place, they could
- be sleeping on the streets.
- very important to us to have this kind of dignity and kind of comfort that we can give people who are
- in that situation. And 96% of our clients experience extreme poverty. And so Friends Place is a place
- to go when they have nowhere else to go. So I appreciate your consideration. And thank you for your
- past support. Have a good night. Thank you.
- All right. Next up, we have the Bloomington Food Policy Council Pathways. I know we got to know about
- the project school not being able to attend due to illness. And so we'll have Bloomington Food Policy
- Council Pathways and then Stone Belt.
- Hi, all. My name is Jada B. The Bloomington Food Policy Council is the fiscal sponsor and 501C3 for
- People's Cooperative Market, which is a 501C12, a co-op nonprofit. This is my friend Rivka here, who's
- a part of the Bloomington
- Food Policy Council. In 2024, we constructed a 30 by 90 greenhouse with 10 spaces for community members
- to rent, and the rest of it dedicated to the People's Market growing space for the market to give away
- free food. Our ask for you is $6,300 for the People's United Garden located at
- First United Church. Here's an overview of part of our garden plans for this space. Right here is already
- the greenhouse. This is the section that we're talking about, expanding and getting raised beds and
- mulch and things like that that are needed to create a further growing space that half of the spaces
- raised beds would go to community members to farm in and the rest would go to people's market to farm
- in so that we can continue to grow food for the market and give it out to people in our community.
- Since 2020, People's Market has distributed over 9,000 free CSAs, community-supported agriculture, bags
- filled with veggies, eggs, and sometimes meat. We received over and administered 22 grants, fulfilled
- grants, and completed sales for more than $972,000. By the end of this year, it will be at a million.
- Paid over 41 different local farmers, including one of the farmers who is speaking here,
- In the past two years, we've been primarily working with BIPOC farmers, small farmers of all races under
- 100 acres, and LGBTQ farmers. We were also featured in Farm Aid and continue to partner with Farm Aid
- to raise awareness about farmers.
- We've hosted three conferences, our Spring Sprout Food System Series twice, and our Midwest Cohort Gathering.
- We've hosted over 2,600 volunteer hours from non-committee members. We couldn't calculate our committee
- members' hours, because we worked nonstop for the past five years. We have over 13 community partners,
- including some of the folks that have spoken tonight and are asking for grants, and so we help also
- sort of make your dollars stretch
- further. Some of the community members like the Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, La Casa Food Pantry, and
- Beale and Boomington. We facilitated 19 workshops and trainings, distributed over 100 free books, hosted
- four internships with IU students,
- and so on. This greenhouse space in particular is how we move from surviving to thriving. We teach people
- how to garden and farm, and we give them the space to do it, and we show them what it is to be a community
- on a different level. And we hope to turn the area we're at at First United Church into a further place
- to help feed our community and create a community space, as well as having pollinator gardens that will
- help anyone in the area who is
- farming and gardening in Bloomington. Thank you so much. Talk to you later. Thank you. Good evening.
- My name is Katie Broadfoot, and I am here representing Pathways, which is formerly Monroe County United
- Ministries.
- Since 1939, Pathways has been a part of Monroe County's fabric, helping families to build stability
- through high quality early learning and wraparound support that truly meets their needs. The most important
- thing that you need to know about Pathways now is that we are a full family multi-year program, where
- our goal is for children to leave us ready for their first day of kindergarten and for their caregivers
- or their custodial parents to be able to sustainably meet their family's
- basic needs without the help of us or other social service agencies. We've seen a lot of people requesting
- food, so we're trying to reduce social service duplication.
- And then our other goals for the families are for the caregivers to have an emergency savings and then
- also to have an asset in their name by the time they leave us. So at our Compass Early Learning Center,
- 94 children every single day receive full-day affordable accredited care. We remain the only program
- of our kind in the county and we're committed to staying a program that can offer our own sliding fee
- scale in spite of the federal funding cuts.
- These are working families who earn too much in most cases for subsidies, but too little to stay stable.
- Through our Family Resource Center, we walk alongside those families with mentoring, financial coaching,
- and a food pantry designed to promote both immediate relief and long-term resilience.
- Every week, about 45 of our families rely on our food pantry, which saves them an average of $75 per
- week. And this is money that they are guided to save or invest towards building an emergency safety
- net or planning to purchase an asset over the next couple of years.
- One of the other things that makes our food pantry unique is our new focus on perishable and culturally
- preferred foods. Items like milk, eggs, dairy alternatives, and frozen meats that most food pantries
- can't regularly offer. These foods are rich in nutrients essential for children's growth and health.
- They also allow families from diverse cultural backgrounds to prepare traditional meals, foods that
- feel familiar, dignified, and comforting. Meeting families' nutritional and cultural needs is not just
- a matter of kindness. It's a matter of effectiveness. It's what helps families truly thrive. We're requesting
- $5,000 to continue stocking these vital perishable items over the next year.
- At a time when budgets are tightening across the board, this modest investment will help us to keep
- food on tables, build financial security, and strengthen the very foundation of economic mobility for
- families right here in Monroe County. Your support ensures families that are working hard to get ahead
- have what they need to keep going, nourishment, dignity, and a real path forward. Thank you for your
- time, your service, and your commitment to helping all families in our community thrive.
- OK, this time I am going to be talking about Stone Belt. So my name is Adam Hamill. I'm the director
- of community engagement at Stone Belt, a nonprofit serving people with developmental disabilities throughout
- South Central Indiana since 1959. Stone Belt was founded by nine families who believed in creating
- opportunities for their children with disabilities, opportunities that didn't exist at that time.
- Today, we support over 1,200 individuals with a wide range of developmental disabilities, helping them
- live independently, gain employment, and fully participate in our community. In 2000, Stone Belt established
- Milestones, a mental health clinic that not only provides nursing, behavioral, and mental health support,
- but also provides therapy services to individuals with disabilities and children suffering from depression,
- anxiety, and anxiety disorders.
- Among the therapies offered is play therapy. Play therapy is an evidence-based approach where toys,
- art, sand trays, and role play become the language of healing. A child who has experienced trauma might
- use figures in a sand tray to act out fear or anger. A young person with autism might use sensory items
- like kinetic sand to regulate emotions. Dolls and pretend play props allow children to practice empathy,
- communication, and family roles. These tools help clients build resilience, self-regulation, and social
- understanding.
- To strengthen and expand our work, the Milestones Division of Stone Belt is requesting $3,000 from the
- Sophia Travis grant. These funds will allow us to purchase items that will enrich the therapeutic
- environment, sand tracing figures, diverse dolls that represent children of all backgrounds, dramatic
- play props, sensory tools, and organizational materials that make the space safe and welcoming.
- With these resources, we expect to see greater engagement and therapy, improved emotional regulation,
- stronger social and family skills, and most importantly, children feeling seen, supported, and empowered.
- These items will directly support hundreds of therapy sessions every year and will serve clients for
- years to come. I appreciate your consideration. Thank you. Next up, we have tandem.
- Big Brothers Big Sisters and Mills on Wheels.
- Hi. Tandem is a hub for perinatal and reproductive services in our community. From our postpartum house,
- which is the first of its kind in the country, to the Hoosier diaper program, postpartum doula services,
- and support groups and educational programming, Tandem services are accessible for all, regardless of
- ability to pay. The need for Tandem is evidenced by our rapid growth and the stories of our clients.
- As a five and a half year old nonprofit with the unfortunate timing of launching alongside a global
- pandemic, we have grown
- from an idea to serving hundreds of clients every month and at least 500 unique families per year. In
- a county with just over a thousand births per year, we are filling a critical gap and impacting the
- lives of many. We want to ensure that no one feels alone, that no one has to choose between food and
- diapers, that families can thrive and not just survive. Through partnerships and careful strategic planning,
- Tandem is determined to create a sustainable model of care, and we are getting closer to that every month.
- a young nonprofit, we have no cushion to fall back on. A single month without adequate donations and
- grants coming in can mean unpaid rent and the potential closure of tandem. Again and again, I write
- grants to request funding only to find that they will not pay rent, will not pay salaries, and will
- not pay utilities. But these are not overhead. These are essentials. Paying these essentials makes everything
- we do possible. Without them, the vital programs we run that other funders love to fund will cease to exist.
- I want to give you an example of the kind of impact tandem can have. We had a mother who came to tandem
- regularly for groups, resources, and support. Her baby experienced a medical crisis of the worst kind
- you can imagine, and this mother knew she could come to tandem for help. Not only did she come to tandem
- and to our staff,
- But she came for the community that we had built for her, that she had built for herself, and she wouldn't
- have had otherwise. And so the family she met through Tandem stepped up to provide meals, emotional
- support, and love through the hardest parenting journey of her life. This level of community building
- is one of the things we cherish most at Tandem. We hope that the Sophia Travis Committee will help us
- fund our essentials so we can keep serving our community. We know that serving new parents helps break
- cycles of adversity, reducing adverse childhood
- experiences and yielding positive health repercussions for those parents and their children for decades
- to come. And we're so grateful for your support. And I wanted to say, last year, you funded our mental
- health support groups, which received very minimal funding for last year. But that funding allowed us
- to keep it going. And this year, we're partnering with the Earth State Institute at IU and have fully
- funded our mental health groups for the entire next year. But it doesn't cover rent. Thank you.
- Thank you.
- My name is Darby, and I am here representing Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central Indiana. I am
- our program director. I am super excited to talk to you guys tonight about our initiative that we're
- hoping to fund with funding from Sophia Travis. The initiative is called One to One Plus Digital Initiative
- Advancing Mentoring with Technology in Monroe County at Big Brothers
- Big Sisters, our mission is simple, to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite
- the power and promise of youth. But as the world changes, so do the ways that we connect. Most of our
- littles face challenges in finding consistent engagement or opportunities. And we knew that technology
- could help us bridge that gap.
- The other great thing is all of our programs for our families are 100% free. Through this grant,
- will equip our mentoring programs with modern interactive tools, including a portable LG Stand By Me
- monitor, student response clickers, a digital projector, curriculum building software, and remarkable
- two tablets that will allow our staff to go completely paperless. These resources will be used across
- our schools, as well as our office, to make sure that our mentoring is not only more interactive, but
- also sustainable and accessible.
- By integrating these tools, we are not only improving how our mentors and youth connect, but we're modeling
- an environmentally responsible and equitable way of working. Research shows that interactive technology
- increases motivation, learning, and confidence, and this initiative will help our mentors and littles
- experience this firsthand.
- We're deeply grateful for this opportunity and for all of you for believing in our mission and vision.
- And your support will help us to ensure that every child in our program here in Monroe County has the
- chance to see, learn, and dream a little bigger with technology and mentorship working hand in hand.
- Now, as always, I always like to do a plug for our volunteer need. We are making lots of matches right
- now, which is very exciting.
- but our need for mentors always continues to grow as we continue to expand our program and explore new
- opportunities. So if you or anyone else watching this tonight is interested in knowing more about becoming
- a big or new ways to support our programs, please visit our brand new updated website at bigsindiana.org
- and you can either connect with our team or start the process to become a big. So thank you.
- So next up, looks like Bloomington Mills on wheels. Is there anybody here? Nope, gone once, gone twice.
- Nope. Okay, so all right. We have Wheeler Mission, Steinsville Community Library, and Hoosier Hills
- Food Bank. And Wheeler, Steinsville, and Hoosier Hills, if you all are here,
- We just need for you all to, um, sign in at the front desk where Ms. Kim show is. Okay. Okay. Next up
- on deck here, we have the boys and girls club of Wilmington constellation stage and screen, and then
- the wonder lab museum.
- Good afternoon. Thank you for having me here today. My name is Wendy Druckmiller, and I'm the Grants
- and Impact Director for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington. This year, the club is humbly requesting
- $10,000 in funding to support the purchase of new security cameras for the Ellisville Club location.
- These cameras will replace Hike Vision brand cameras that are now banned in many state and local government
- buildings in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act due to national security concerns.
- As the Ellitsville Club operates out of a building that is owned by the Richard Bean Blossom Community
- School Corporation, this ban is also applicable to our cameras. The safety of our members is our top
- priority, and cameras help to ensure this in several ways. They are crucial tools for club leaders to
- be able to monitor and track everyone who is in the building, ensure transitions between activities
- and programs are structured with adherence to safety,
- verify that club staff are actively monitoring and supervising youth, and respond quickly to facility
- hazards, medical emergencies, major behavioral incidents, and other concerns. Most importantly, though,
- cameras are vital to the prevention of child abuse by providing the ability to confirm that club staff
- and volunteers maintain appropriate physical and verbal interactions with youth and are not engaged
- in any red flag activities, as well as to closely observe high risk areas and activities.
- Systems for monitoring and supervision are essential in managing the risk of abuse as it has lasting
- negative consequences, including depression, substance abuse, relationship problems, increased future
- risk of heart disease and obesity, and suicidal ideation. The Alexville club fills a significant gap
- for local youth and families that are in the greatest need of our service.
- It is a place of belonging, connection, and hope. For only $20 per year, members receive transportation
- from their school location to the club, a healthy snack, access to a multitude of high quality programs,
- and guidance from caring adults, all in a safe environment. This club location has nearly 400 registered
- members, and average daily attendance approaching 240 youths, and has over 30 staff, student interns,
- and volunteers in this building each day.
- Support from the Sophia Travis Community Service Grant will allow us to purchase the security cameras
- necessary to ensure the continued safety of our buildings by controlling access, assuring safe practices
- are being followed by staff, volunteers, and members, identifying structural hazards, decreasing response
- time to emergency situations, and mitigating the risk of abuse. In addition to keeping them physically
- safer, it is a signal to our members that they matter to us. Their safety is important to us, not just
- physically, but emotionally, mentally and relationally.
- Youths who are physically and emotionally safe have greater capacity to learn, grow, and thrive. For
- many of the kids that we serve, the club may be one of the few places, if not the only place, that they
- feel safe. Therefore, we work continuously to enhance safety policies, practices, and training to ensure
- that they are centered on youth's needs. Even still, the most effective way to prevent abuse is to remain
- vigilant about supervising the activities of staff, volunteers, and youth.
- Thank you for investing in our local youth through your support of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington
- over the years and for your consideration of our request today.
- Good evening, and thank you for the opportunity to share our work. I'm Erin Parks, development director
- of Constellation Stage and Screen, Bloomington's professional theater and film organization. And today
- I'd like to talk about Constellation for Schools, our student matinee and arts education program that
- provides access to live professional theater for students and educators throughout Monroe County. In
- the past three years, we've seen
- considerable growth and demand from local schools. Teachers consistently tell us their students talk
- about these shows for weeks. And because for many, it's their first time experiencing live theater,
- we really want to help even more children. Last season, we served nearly 4,000 students and educators
- through 23 student matinees. And this year, we're already sold out.
- with over 800 students on a wait list hoping to attend. Our true cost per student is around $15 to $20,
- but we keep tickets at $7.50 per student to make the experience affordable for all schools. Funding
- from this grant helps us maintain that accessibility and expand capacity to meet growing interest. With
- this Sophia Travis
- grant support will be able to add eight additional student matinees, reaching up to 800 more students
- this season. Our lineup includes You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, celebrating 75 years of peanuts, A
- Christmas Story, The Musical, A Beloved Tale, A Family Nostalgia,
- based in Indiana, and Finn, a brand new children's musical from the creator of Doc McStuffins and Vampirina,
- exploring courage, identity, and self-expression. Each show includes curriculum-aligned study guides
- that help teachers tie their performance to subjects like reading, music, and social emotional learning.
- Live theater is a powerful teaching tool. It nurtures empathy, creativity, communication, and
- perspective-taking, skills that are essential not just for learning,
- but for life. When students watch a story unfold on stage, they see people collaborating, problem solving,
- and expressing emotion, all things that can't be replicated on a screen. It's an experience that connects
- art and education in a deeply human way.
- With your support, $4,000 will serve over 4,500 students from 30 schools and 10 homeschool organizations
- this year, keeping arts accessible, equitable, and inspiring for the next generation of creative thinkers.
- You are helping students experience something truly formative, the shared power of storytelling, imagination,
- and community. Thank you.
- shorter. Hello, my name is Leslie Kosenko. I'm the director of philanthropy from Wonder Lab. Wonder
- Lab is honored to be considered for the support of Sophia Travis and deeply grateful for the opportunity
- to share our story and our vision for ideas that we have today. For more than 28 years, Wonder Lab has
- been a vital community resource for families across South Central Indiana, offering transformative science,
- technology, engineering, math, STEM experiences to over 1.8 million visitors since we opened.
- Our mission is clear. Every child, regardless of background, deserves joyful hands-on learning that
- sparks curiosity and opens new pathways for learning. Our core belief is that equitable access to science
- education creates a more and just creative future for everyone.
- Yet, youth enrichment barriers remain for thousands of children and families. In Monroe County alone,
- 14% of children under the age of 18 live in poverty, with numbers even higher under those of five. More
- than 40% of local school children that visit Wonder Lab are on the free or reduced lunch program, a
- powerful indicator of the economic hardship that we are surrounded by. But these barriers don't just
- limit access to museums. They limit children's opportunities to grow with social
- learning and see themselves as something different and hopeful. Through our Connecting to the Community
- Fund, Wunder Lab breaks down these barriers and we empower social service agencies in our regions, like
- the Boys and Girls Club, New Hope, Middle Way, Big Brothers, Girls Inc, CASA, Family Services,
- Head Start, Youth Services, and more, as long as Title I schools, to bring groups to Wunder Lab for free.
- Danny from Family Solutions states he brings kids to Wonder Lab to not only have fun and be outside
- of the home, but to learn vital life and social skills like waiting in line or collaborating, like building
- a beehive. It may be the first time that these children may touch a snake, may see a skink, or can look
- through our aquarium and wonder about the ocean.
- Many of these visitors have traumatic experiences and need a safe space for their families to learn
- together. A CASA volunteer that brings children says individual visits help potentially remove them
- from stressful situations that they face at home. And coming to Wonder Lab has that much more impact.
- Wonder Lab also has many staff and volunteers that are trained and helped to teach parents learning
- behaviors to continue outside of the museum. And we offer those services for anyone that asks.
- Wonder Lab is a phenomenal example of many different ways to overcome the stigma of failure, keep trying,
- get to an end result, and all the way have fun. We need help for social services because our demand
- has skyrocketed.
- Unfortunately, I'm here today to ask for $16,000 to catch up for what we're funding for social service
- agencies. I would love to come to you next year and offer it to Cancer Support Community, My Sister's
- Closet, and Beacon. And in order to do that, we need to fund the social service agencies that we fund
- today. With your help and consideration, we appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.
- Is there anybody from Planned Parenthood that's here? No? Okay. Next up we have Pantry 279, Protect
- Our People and Limestone Media.
- Hello, my name is Tracy. I'm the assistant director with Pantry 279. I want to thank you guys for your
- time tonight and for your support in the past. It has helped us grow to what we are today. Pantry 279
- began with a Girl Scout troop who was concerned about classmates who were saving their leftovers from
- school lunches to have something to eat on the weekends when school was not in session.
- We have been serving Monroe and surrounding counties for nearly 10 years. Our 10th birthday is just
- around the corner, November 3rd. Pantry 279 is committed to meeting the growing food insecurity needs
- of Monroe County residents. To ensure we are able to continue to do this, we are asking for 25,000 for
- the next steps of our project. 15,000 of that would be used to
- strictly purchase food for our community. These foods would include non-perishables, fresh produce,
- meats, and specialty foods to accommodate special diets such as sugar-free and gluten-free. 10,000 will
- help with operational costs including expanding our delivery services to reach more of our homebound
- clients, vehicle maintenance, staff confidence,
- compensation and infrastructure maintenance, which, as the speaker from Tandem pointed out, is really
- hard to find grants that support these costs. We can have all of the food and equipment in the world,
- but if we don't have employees or a building, you know, people to unload the truck or unlock the door,
- it doesn't do us much good.
- We have seen a vast increase in food and secure clients just within the last few months, and we expect
- this trend to just keep going up. We served 9,795 individuals in the month of June, of which 1,751 were
- just deliveries to our homebound clients.
- In September, we served 10,945 individuals of which 2,170 were deliveries to our homebound clients.
- Our homebound clients are really important to us. These are the elderly, the sick, the disabled, people
- who can't afford transportation, things like that. Our delivery service also has been a life-saving
- experience for two of our clients because our regulars,
- that we provide food to every week. When they don't answer the door, it's concerning and we've had to
- do well checks and twice it's saved someone's life. So we are here today asking you to help us keep
- our food insecure neighbors fed. Thank you.
- to apologize to the monitors I took out. I'm sorry. No, no, I apologize for this. Thank you brilliant,
- beautiful, and beneficent committee members for this opportunity and your time. I'm Melanie
- Davis representing Protect Our People and the Front Door, a coming LGBTIQ center. The LGBTIQ community
- is under attack by our current state and federal governments.
- The state supermajority has worked for years to block and roll back equality efforts from passage of
- state defensive marriage acts, removing gender altogether from bias crimes law to avoid including transgender
- people to the forced outing of queer children by public school faculty and administrators to repealing
- medically appropriate health care for transgender students. The federal government has removed and blocked
- inclusion of us from health care statistics narrowly
- defined gender as relating to only two sex categories against all scientific knowledge portrayed us
- as the most violent segment of the world's population to monitors, called us the enemy from within while
- threatening to have us rounded up and variously dealt with by incarceration, forced institutionalization,
- or given the death penalty.
- The totality of this leads to intense fear and stress in a community that has just started to see some
- appreciable progress in the last 20 years. Queer youth and Gen Z have grown up in a world where it was
- mostly okay to be themselves, and they as a whole haven't had to hide to stay alive. And this current
- state of political stochastic terrorism has the greatest negative effects on them. I won't go into the
- suicide and homelessness rates, because they would haunt anyone with a conscience.
- but everyone in the community who are on the internet knows them. I was contacted the weekend before
- last by five families, five, just in one weekend, who are searching for information on how to move forward
- in this position they're in. And this is the information that we've been providing for the last two
- years with Protect Our People.
- Many LGBTIQ people flocked to Monroe County in Bloomington, in particular because we have enjoyed a
- reputation as the most LGBTIQ-friendly place in the Midwest. By percentages alone, Monroe County has
- at least 15,000 people who fall under the queer umbrella, and that includes over 4,000 youth. That also
- doesn't include the allies who love us and support our happiness and further existence, and it doesn't
- include our families.
- All told, we need to build community and joy, protect our people, and now the Front Door Community Center
- Project and will continue to hold queer joy events. I'll speed it up. The Front Door pop-up events would
- be a dance party at Western Skate Land with pizza and treat, family-style cookout at Lower Cascades
- Park with barbecue treats and games, All Ages Movie Night at Farr Center for Contemporary Arts, and
- a fall festival at Bryant Park.
- with performances, food trucks, carnival, and a parade. Please help us reach all who need this in the
- youth of the queer community. Thank you for everything. Perfect honor.
- Good evening. My name is Emily Reynolds and I'm a board member with the Limestone Post and Joy Harter
- is here with us too. She's the president. We both believe in local news. Limestone Media is
- a news organization that publishes the Limestone Post. It's an independent nonprofit online magazine
- committed to publishing in depth, informative and inclusive stories about the communities in and around
- Monroe County.
- We launched in 2015 as a for-profit publication with the goal of informing our readers on diverse topics
- that can be covered and uncovered in this dynamic community that we call home. Our shift to a nonprofit
- organization has allowed us to focus even more on public service and solutions journalism.
- That means our content comes from rigorous reporting that not only on the problems and issues But on
- those solutions that we can find to solve them As we've seen tonight Monroe County one of Monroe County's
- greatest assets are charitable organizations it has been
- being lower on the totem pole here, I've been able to hear about so many of them. But much of their
- work goes unseen by the greater community. At Limestone Post, we'd like for that to change. We are proposing
- to shine a spotlight on at least eight organizations between January and December of 2026.
- By posting their stories, they will be amongst our stories that are about Monroe County and the surrounding
- areas. Present times make it extremely important for us to find ways to build common ground, and local
- news can do that.
- Research shows that news, local news structures our world. That local newspapers and organizations offers
- a window into how we see our reality in the place that we live. So in an age where social media takes
- up a lot of our scrolling time,
- Creating spaces where we can locally, where we can locally build our community and begin to weave connections
- and support one another is essential. And that is what Limestone strives to do. Thank you.
- Next up, we have Monroe County Humane Association, My Sister's Closet, and Exodus Refugee Immigration.
- Ready? Great. I'm Andrew Krebs, the executive director of Monroe County Humane Association. And thank
- you for the opportunity to share how this grant will help pets in Monroe County. Every day, we see pets
- living in homes facing hardship.
- domestic violence, hospitalization, addiction recovery, eviction, unemployment, underemployment, homebound
- seniors struggling to make ends meet, to name a few. These pets are often silent casualties of crisis,
- losing their homes, their people, and their stability. When that happens, there are almost no options
- for them. That's where we step in. Our grant request will support three of our many programs that are
- changing lives. The Crisis Housing Program is one of the only, one of its own,
- only one of its kind in South Central Indiana and rare across the country. It gives pets a safe place
- to stay when their owners face emergencies such as domestic violence, homelessness, or medical crisis.
- Studies show that more than 70% of domestic violence survivors stay with an abuser rather than leave
- their pet behind. And they can't go to human shelters. Without our program, many people would remain
- in unsafe situations.
- Most pets needing crisis housing also require vaccinations and vet care, which we provide at no cost.
- Last year, we provided 1,455 days of care. This year, we've already exceeded 1,700, and we expect to
- reach 2,500 by year's end, a 75% increase. Our pet food pantry feeds thousands of hungry cats and dogs
- each year. Food insecurity forces tough choices. 83% of struggling families will feed their pets before
- themselves, according to PetSmart charities.
- Last year we distributed 28,000 pounds of food and this year we're already up 6%. Our spay and neuter
- assistance program addresses shelter crowding before it starts. One unspayed dog in her offspring can
- produce 67,000 puppies in six years. And according to the Bissell Pet Foundation, one unspayed cat in
- her offspring can produce over 2 million kittens in eight years. Our vouchers make surgeries affordable
- for low-income families, improving animal health and reducing overpopulation.
- Right now, shelters in our region are at a maximum capacity with no sign of slowing down. Every kennel
- and office space is full. MCHA's programs are wraparound services designed to keep pets safe, healthy,
- and out of shelters, reserving those spots for animals in most urgent need. Our passion is helping pets.
- When we provide a safe place for a pet, we help a domestic violence survivor escape an abuser. When
- we provide pet food assistance, a fixed income senior chooses to eat instead of going without.
- Every dollar prevents suffering, keeps pets in homes, and gives families hope when they need it most.
- Thank you for considering our request and for supporting this vital work in our community. Thank you.
- Thank you. Thank you for having me here today. My name is Sandy Keller. I'm the executive director of
- My Sister's Closet.
- My sister's closet was created to build a stronger community by promoting economic self-sufficiency
- by providing women with professional support services and tools for success. And what we do with that
- is we help a woman absolutely re-market herself in the way that she's seen on paper, the way she's able
- to talk about herself, her skill sets, her past employment, and how she is able to walk into a room
- because of that
- 85% of the women that we serve are able to find job success within six weeks of their first appointment
- with my sister's closet. We have served to date over 4,000 women in Monroe County.
- The women come to us with very limited education. It's extremely common for most women we serve to say
- that they got pregnant when they were in high school. The average of those is between 12 and 15 years
- old. They lack critical thinking skills. They need assistance moving into better paying jobs with benefits
- so they and their children and their grandchildren can move into a better life. The ideas that we help
- them become sustainable long term.
- It takes incredible courage and determination for these women to move past their circumstances and out
- of poverty and into sustainable employment.
- They come to us with the weight of financial stress, they're living in unsafe situations, and they have
- a history of multiple trauma and childhood ACEs, and because so many of them have recent domestic violence,
- they are coming to us with extreme anxiety. It is absolutely important that we provide a safe and secure
- space for them to receive their services.
- We had someone break in, and that caused a lot of concern from clients who wanted to come to my sister's
- closet for services, but they were very concerned about their safety when they got there. We put in
- a security system, and it had completely reduced the amount of violence outside our building. Unfortunately,
- we did not have outside motion detectors in the back of our building, and we feel that the recent shooting
- that led to a death two weeks ago would have prevented if we had had them. My sister's closet is in,
- going to a new location on the corner of Second and Patterson. It is going to be conspicuously close
- to Wheeler Mission and Beacon, which will serve over 300 men who will be homeless. And again, the concerns
- are rising of whether or not we are going to be able to protect these women and keep them safe. My sister's
- closet is respectfully asking for $4,757 to help with exterior lighting, security cameras, motion detected
- spotlights,
- at LOX and a professional monitoring system that will provide 24-7 protection and rapid response. And
- thank you so much for all the ways Sophia Travis has helped the community and helped my sister's closet.
- We are very, very grateful for everything you've done. Thank you. Thank you.
- Thank you for having me here tonight. So I'm Erin. I'm the director of Exodus Refugee here in Bloomington.
- In our 44-year history, Exodus serves immigrants of humanitarian concern. So as you know, people that
- are fleeing their countries not to come here to find a better job or to go to school, but for people
- to survive and have a chance at life. Since we established our sub-office in October 2021, we have welcomed
- over 500 refugees, immigrants of humanitarian concern here in Bloomington. It's no secret, right, that
- the state and federal administrations are executing on
- unprecedented attacks on immigrants and refugees and our office. The refugee program has been nearly
- dismantled, leaving no new refugee arrivals in the country in 2025. And not only are we shutting our
- borders to people in need, now we're stripping away food and health care from refugees as the recent
- bill took away SNAP and Medicaid from refugees. Families are also living in constant fear of deportation
- and retaliation by the government. So for our clients, the US is supposed to be a place of hope.
- and we intend to keep it that hope alive despite the sweeping discriminatory policies that run our country
- right now. So typically, we provide all the upfront services for refugees coming to the country, everything
- from welcoming them to the airport, setting up housing, food, medical, education. Overall, we ensure
- clients are self-sufficient here in Bloomington. But it's important to understand that this adjustment
- doesn't happen in a few months. It can take years. And for that reason, our programs actually allow
- us to serve people for up to five years from when they arrive.
- And we continue, even without arrivals, to provide these wraparound support services that include case
- management, employment, legal, and mental health services. To give you a recent example, we had a woman
- who was working and paying her bills. She received a cancer diagnosis. So she could not work full time,
- and a lot to manage right when you're getting cancer treatment. She had a case manager helping her.
- She actually lost her health insurance, no fault of her own. It was completely the state's fault. The
- case manager reinstated her health insurance within 24 hours, so she did not miss her
- miss her cancer treatment.
- for these reasons and many more. It's critical that our office remains open and we quickly and adeptly
- serve the needs of our new immigrant neighbors who are an integral part of our community. That's why
- we're asking for $5,000 to contribute to our emergency assistance fund that allows us to do that. And
- remembering that our immigrant neighbors, our coworkers, our family, and our friends, we remain committed
- to doing this work here in Bloomington despite the powers that be that want us to stop. We hope that
- you partner with us in doing so and take a stand in supporting refugees here.
- happy to report that that client is in remission and doing very well, working again. And those are the
- awesome stories we get to see at Exodus. Thank you all for your time. Thank you. All right. Next up,
- we have Second Baptist Church, Amethyst House, and Harrettsburg Heritage Days.
- Good evening. My name is Martha Chamberlain, the chairperson of the grant committee at Second Baptist
- Church, where I serve with Diane Hanks, Dara Sims, who's present with me this evening, and Andrea Love.
- Thank you for allowing me a few brief minutes to share some information concerning Feed the Needy Pantry.
- The pantry is located in the basement of the historic Second Baptist Church, which is a part of the
- near Westside community.
- The Westside community is the home to a substantial percentage of Bloomington low-income population.
- Second Baptist Church has been the home of a thriving congregation since 1872 on the Westside. The church
- have fight hunger by operating feed the needy pantry program. The pantry is open two days a week, Monday
- and Tuesday from 10 to noon. We serve an average of 110 clients per month.
- Financial contribution and a food drive twice a year helps sustain the pantry. Members of the church
- volunteer to staff the pantry each week. Through our partnership with Hoosier Hill Food Bank, we can
- secure food items at cost to support the pantry. Over the last two years, with the increased cost of
- rent, food, and other things, the number of families seeking food has grown substantially.
- Last year, with funds from the Sophia Travis grant, we were able to offer a better variety and more
- protein. Turkeys during Thanksgiving, hams during Christmas, eggs during Easter, purchased ground beef
- from a local meatpacking company, and through the Hoosier Hill Food Bank, we were able to purchase fish,
- tuna, peanut butter, and other protein items throughout the year.
- The families and persons we serve include men who are unhoused. They need items that they can eat which
- do not require cooking. This year we serve more families and persons than last year.
- due to the increasing cost of food. If awarded the Sophia Travis grant, we will continue to serve the
- family and unhoused people in the city of Bloomington, the near west side, and Monroe County. Thank
- you so very much for your time.
- Council members I want to thank you all for your time. My name is Delaney Dorsch and I'm here on behalf
- of Amethyst House which is a Bloomington based nonprofit that serves individuals with substance abuse
- disorders. Our services include residential and outpatient treatment emphasizing a foundation towards
- recovery. Like many of us in Monroe County we felt firsthand about how the dollar does not go as very
- far in the grocery store these days.
- At our local Kroger, a dozen Kroger grade A eggs were previously hovering around $2.89 in 2024.
- Now it's $3.59. That's nearly a 25% increase. Likewise, many other necessary items like milk, bread,
- and ground beef have followed the same trend. These are all staples that we buy.
- And now imagine scaling those cost increases across two meals a day for our 31 residents for every day
- of the year. To put into perspective, the daily average food costs are $82 at our men's house and $53
- at our woman's house. These total food costs are $135 per day for our residential homes, which is an
- 11% increase since last year.
- Nutritious meals are a cornerstone of recovery, enhancing both mental and physical health. And every
- resident in our care receives two healthy meals a day, 365 days a year, ensuring that they can focus
- on healing without the stress of food insecurity.
- We also receive additional deviation from our friends at Hoosier Hills Food Bank, which have been monumental
- in offsetting the cost of rising goods. The recrusted amount of $7,000 will stabilize Amethyst House
- during this period of rising costs for about 51 days.
- Our goals align with the Sophia Travis Grant's vision of health, food, nutrition, security, and shelter,
- and we want the outmost quality for our residents to enrich Monroe County community members going through
- a transitional period in their lives.
- Covering food costs throughout this grant will help us keep residential fees affordable while still
- providing the highest quality care and nourishment to those working hard to transform those lives. We've
- been very grateful from previous years for the generosity of the Sophia Travis grant. And on behalf
- of Amethyst House, thank you for considering this request and supporting the well-being of our community.
- Thank you. Thank you.
- Hi, good evening, folks. First, I'd like to thank you guys for inviting us here. And I really don't
- envy your task of sorting through all of these worthy causes. I am so glad I'm on this side of the podium.
- My name's Paul Strain. I'm the president of Harrodsburg Heritage Days. We're coming up on our 39th annual
- Harrodsburg Heritage Days, making us one of the longest festivals actually
- in Monroe County. Our festival we've continued to grow with the help and with hopefully with your help
- we're hoping to bring another attraction to the festival. We found once we can get an attraction in
- it's a lot easier to get a sponsor for it. So we're hoping to bring in carnival rides and we've talked to
- One of the providers, we've tried this once before and selling tickets, and we're not really big enough
- to bring in, you know, to make that profitable. We're asking for $4,500. And with that, we can bring
- in carnival rides to our festival free of charge. No one will have to pay anything for the rides. They'll
- be free to all the kids, everything equal.
- This is just one of the ways we're hoping to take our festival up to the next level. So I'll be really
- brief. I just want to thank you for your support. And you guys have a great rest of your day.
- Thank you. You too. Thank you. All right. I'm not certain. I have a note here that says that PALS, which
- is the acronym for People and Animal Service,
- Animal Learning Services will either be here in person or virtual. Do we? OK. OK. They weren't. OK.
- So it looks like we don't have a representative from them. So that concludes all 46 presentations.
- I'm going to look to council members. That's my job for tomorrow. I'm going to look for all of our committee
- members here for a job that is for us tomorrow, which is if we've not gotten our spreadsheets yet, those
- are due to the council office tomorrow at
- new because on friday october 10th starting at 1 pm we have a committee meeting to go over the score
- and spreadsheet so i'm gonna also look to michelle just in case anybody wants to look at this after
- this is done um and let her or say next steps for applicants who participate this evening the next steps
- um will be there will uh
- the committee will make the recommendations, then that will go to the council for their approval, which
- I think we have scheduled for October 28. So, unless, you know, that gets changed. And then, but they
- have all been given a sheet of paper with all the dates and so then
- Once they've been approved by council, then contracts will be created and, um, uh, applicants can then
- go to a commissioner meeting. Do you remember that day? I want to say November or something. Yeah.
- looks like November 13th okay so November 13th applicants that have been awarded any grant amounts can
- go to the commissioner meeting and they will um can pick up their check and sign the contract at that
- time so um if you do get awarded a an amount uh there we will also forward to you a sheet of paper
- that has to be notarized. So we will get in contact with you with regards to all of that information.
- All right. Well, with that, I will say, as the gentleman mentioned, that we have a very daunting task
- that is ahead of us. I feel like I've been saying that for the past month and a half related to a whole
- lot of stuff right now. But with this one, we do too.
- That are actually all the madness and craziness that we have going on locally.
- I think that nationally this was refreshing, but it is a really hard task because we see a lot of need
- for our community members. And again, I just say to thank you to every single person who continues to
- do for the greater good of our community, the greater parts of Bloomington and of course here in Monroe
- County, we appreciate it. So with that being said, we got some work to do if you haven't done it already,
- and I'm actually preaching to myself because I need to do that tonight.
- Without further ado, we are adjourned. Thank y'all.