- I'd like to call this meeting of the Sophia Travis grants. It's actually a kickoff meeting. I'd like
- to call it to order. I'd like to state for the record the following committee members who are present
- here today in the NatU Hill Room. So I'm going to start here to my right. I'm Julie Robertson. I'm Trent
- Deckard. And I'm Liz Vidal.
- Do we have, I believe Jennifer Crossley's not gonna be here this evening, so we don't have anybody on
- the committee attending virtually. So yeah, I'd like to take a moment to welcome everybody here and
- those that are watching virtually to the 2026 Sophia Travis kickoff meeting. And I'd like to welcome
- our newest committee member, Katie Hopkins. So I wanna give her an opportunity to introduce herself and
- then we'll invite the other committee members to introduce themselves to the public as well. Thanks,
- Julie. Yeah, my name is Katie Hopkins and fresh on this committee as of two weeks ago.
- So I've had one meeting and very interested to learn more about this process and to go through it with
- you all. I work here in Bloomington with M Street Fiber as a digital equity manager and volunteer in
- several nonprofits. So I'm really excited to get started with this.
- I guess I'll go next. My name is Julie Robertson. I am the other community committee member. Last year
- was my first year serving on this committee. I really enjoyed my time here. I'm very active in the community.
- I do a lot of hands-on volunteer work through several other organizations here in town. And so I'm looking
- forward to this year and getting it going. My name's Trent Decker. I'm an at-large member of the Monroe
- County Council. And I'm here as one of the three county council members
- appointed to this this is my second year this rotation and then earlier in my service I think it was
- twenty nineteen twenty twenty or so I also served on the committee some of the best service I ever do
- I generally have a rule of our not for profit community contacts mean ask me I'm
- I'm going to get myself in trouble here. Ask me to do something or volunteer or step in or do whatever.
- I do that. And I see that as this work here on this committee and the extension of that. And it's just
- awesome to get to be back. Hello, I'm Liz Fiddle. This is my second year along with Trent serving as
- an at-large county council person in this role.
- I am enjoying the Sophia Travis Grant Committee a lot. I have a lot of nonprofit experience, whether
- it's union or community service or United Way or a bunch of things, including Rotary. I've been a longtime
- Rotarian. So community service is a big part of who I am. And I'm happy and happy that others are applying
- for these monies that we have to distribute. So I look forward to seeing a lot of you be granted those funds.
- Thank you for those committee members who were speaking to today. Without further delay, I'd like to
- turn the meeting over to Lihua Aplaca to tell us about the process. Hello and welcome. As council committee
- member Robertson said, I'm Lihua Aplaca. I am the assistant council administrator. I started in this
- role last July and actually my first week last year was the same week as
- Sophia Travis kickoff, so it was a baptism by fire. I have learned a lot in this last year in preparation
- for this coming year. I do have somewhat of a background in nonprofit. I worked from 2012 to 2017 for
- Area 10 Agency on Aging. Started out as a real transit driver, driving a little round bus around Owen
- and Monroe counties.
- Then was their food pantry director, so went shopping at Hoosier Hills Food Bank every week to get groceries
- to prepare deliveries for approximately 300 home-bound seniors in Monroe and Owen counties, and then
- became their nutrition program manager, handling their hot meal delivery program as well as their hot
- meal site program that they have for seniors. So as I said, I'm a little familiar with some of the concerns
- that happen, especially with food insecurity in Monroe County for some of our more vulnerable
- groups in our community. So when you reach out to me to talk to me, just know that I'm familiar with
- some of the things that you guys are experiencing. But let's go ahead and talk about this year's Sophia Travis.
- for technical difficulties. Perfect. Okay, so as some of you may have learned last year, due to the
- county IT security protocols, we are no longer able to send mass emails out to the
- groups that we've worked with previously, as it triggers our spam filters. So the best way to stay up
- to date with Sophia Travis is through our Facebook page and our county website page. As you can see
- on the screen, we've shared those addresses and links. But unfortunately, last year, the week after
- we shared the Sophia Travis webpage address,
- our webpage address changed. And so this year, just to demonstrate how you'll be able to find that page,
- Kim is going to navigate the site so that you'll be able to see how to search for us on the county website. OK.
- if you can click on a link or whatever, it will take you and you will see this in the, that not popping up now.
- This is what our new website looks like. You'll see indiana.gov at the top and you'll see Monroe County.
- In order to find our Sophia Travis portion, you'll want to scroll on the left side of the website and
- you'll see Boards, Commissions and Committees. You can go here and scroll down through and find Sophia Travis.
- committee service grants, and that's where our website is. And so here is where we will post
- the applications, the guidelines, upcoming information for everyone. So you'll just come to this website
- and you'll get all the links that you will need in order to apply. Also, you'll be able to find, here's
- the committee members along
- you know, if you have an email or you want to reach out, we encourage that you send an email to the
- County Council's office and then we can distribute it to the entire committee for you. So, also here
- you can click award distributions history, the 2024 recipients,
- That kind of thing. I think up here is 2025 recipients from last year. So we try to keep this pretty
- up to date. That way you can go through and see any history that you might need. Or again, you can just
- reach out to the office. Is the office number on there somewhere for them?
- It doesn't appear that way, because it's a committee. I'm not in charge of this website, so I don't
- know. Where? On the flyer. Oh, it is on the flyer, though, that we do have. Hang on just a second. Is
- the flyer on that link? Yeah, the flyer is right here. Oh, and it's on there. Yeah, it's on there. So
- it's right here in this section. There is a phone number right here, and as well as the email address.
- Thanks, Kim. Okay, so let's go over this year's application requirements. Next slide. Now, one of the
- first things you'll notice when you receive this year's packet is that there is a checklist now on the
- first page with important information and requirements and reminders for this year's application.
- Then when you continue on to the application itself, one of the things you'll see at the top of the
- application is the 501C3 ID number. So applicants to qualify for Sophia Travis grants must be a 501C3
- organization. If for some reason you don't have your number or you forgot your number, you are able
- to get that number from the IRS Tax Exempt Organization search website
- There is the address there is what the website page looks like when you pull it up you have they have
- drop-down search options that allow you to search either for your organization name or your EIN and
- The guidelines that will be available on the Sophia Travis webpage will have an active link in the document
- the guidelines document that you can click on it will also direct you to this IRS search page as well and
- Please be sure to have the federal 501C3 ID number filled out prior to submitting your application.
- This is one of the ways we are going to be checking if you qualify for the grant. Additionally, we also
- need a current calendar year W9 form included in your application submission.
- This document is needed by our auditor's office because the address that you have on the W-9 is what
- they will be using for all mailing purposes. We want to ensure that it is also signed by the appropriate
- person in your organization. If you look at the screen, you'll see there's a little red X and that's
- where the signature would go.
- And as a reminder, once again, it does need to be for 2026. 501c3 organizations are required to file
- one every year, but for our purposes, we can't use 2025 or 2024. It has to be the current year's W9.
- Is that on the application itself, the place to put that? No, it would be a form that
- a copy of the form that they would have to attach to the application. But on the application, it doesn't
- ask for the W9, right? It does. It does. Oh, it does. OK. And then if, again, this website too, if an
- organization is having trouble locating the W9 site, although a simple Google search will take you there,
- on the guidelines that we have listed on the website, there is also an active link to direct you to
- the W9 IRS site as well.
- As you go through the application and continue on, we will also ask for a distinct primary and secondary
- contact. This must be two different people and who are knowledgeable about the application project.
- It would also be helpful to ensure that each contact has a distinct way to be reached, either an additional
- phone number or email address. We must be able to reach someone if there's an issue with your application,
- occasionally
- our communication will be time sensitive, and so we need to be able to get a hold of someone. I realize
- that sometimes there's like a master phone number or a master email address for the agency or organization,
- but we also need to be sure that there is an additional way to get a hold of someone. So please be sure
- that there is distinct ways, one or two ways of getting a hold of someone from your organization who
- can answer any questions we might have.
- And then continuing on through the application, we come to the project information. Please remember
- to fill out the title of the project. This title will be included in the contract in the agreement.
- That is how we'll refer to what you are doing with the Sophia Travis funds that you receive. Additionally,
- in this section, you can also fill out what your request is for the grant amount, how much the total
- project cost will be,
- how many clients you anticipate will be directly impacted by this project, and how many of those impacted
- are Monroe County residents. And then continuing on through the application, we come to the other funding
- sources. At this point, you will share the other funding you are seeking. The name of the funding source
- and the dropdown menu allows you to select
- whether that funding is pending or confirmed. And so you'll include the totals you're requesting from
- those other groups as well as the name of the groups that you are reaching out to. For the itemized
- budget, in this section you would share an itemized and prioritized project elements list for which
- funding is requested. Number one is the highest priority and 10 is the lowest, all 10 lines
- need not be filled. If you don't have 10 items you're requesting grant funding for, you don't need to
- fill in all the lines. But we would like to see what is most prioritized for you up at the top of the
- list. Another requirement of the application is your most current year end or comparable end of fiscal
- year financial statement. This is an example here of what we need to see
- You need to be sure it includes your agency's fund revenue and expenditure totals. And as I said, this
- is a required part of the application. It does not need to be in this specific format. Just so long
- as it's clear, all of the information can be clearly read and understood.
- Then another requirement is the grant project proposal narrative. It's a thousand word maximum, and
- this is where you would detail the project for which you are requesting funding. This is your opportunity
- to go into greater depth about your project, your vision, your goal, and how the funding will help you
- achieve it. And now that we've reviewed the application, let's go over the criteria for evaluating the
- application.
- So first, completion of all required reports from the previous Sophia Travis grant cycles, this would
- be for 2024 and prior because we do acknowledge that those who received 2025 Sophia Travis funds have
- until December 31st, 2025 to spend them. But if you received Sophia Travis funds in 2024, your spending
- report is due on March 31st, so in two weeks basically,
- of this year. And so the spending report is required to continue to be eligible to apply for Sophia
- Travis grant funds. Additionally, the projects must primarily serve Monroe County residents.
- the extents to which the dollar amount sought will accomplish the stated goals of the project, and the
- extent to which the funds sought will leverage additional funds or assistance. These are all the things
- that the committee members are going to be looking at when they consider your application for Sophia
- Travis funding. The areas for support, we have eight included in Sophia Travis. That starts with health, food,
- nutrition, security, and shelter, transportation assistance, climate change, emergency shortages, first
- responders, veterans assistance, excellence in government, and youth enrichment opportunities. And Sophia
- Travis being a dynamic program, we learn lessons every year.
- and refine it moving forward. As such, here are a few clarifications for the future. First, using Sophia
- Travis Community Services grant funds to create subgrants is prohibited. Next, the state of Indiana
- does not permit Sophia Travis grant funding to be used to subsidize a county department. Therefore,
- a collaborative grant application with a county department partner is not allowed. And third, if a Sophia
- Travis is so,
- big pardon, if a Sophia Travis Community Services Grant awardee does not sign the award agreement by
- Friday, October 30th of this year, 2026, they forfeit their award. And now we come to collaborative
- applications.
- In more recent years, with hopes of better leveraging Sophia Travis grant funds, the committee has added
- the opportunity for collaborative grants among local nonprofits. The committee encourages agencies to
- continue working together toward common goals. Please refer to the collaborative guidelines in your
- handout for more information. If you have any further questions, please contact the council office.
- We'll have that contact information for you again later. A collaborative application includes two or
- more agencies.
- You would use the same application form, but there will be a few differences in your submission with
- the collaborative. You must first have a memorandum of understanding detailing all the parties and their
- duties. The MLU must accompany the application at time of submission to be eligible for consideration,
- and an agency is able to apply as a single agency as well as have a collaborative grant application.
- the scoring procedures are the same. And then we would like to again reiterate that the state of Indiana
- does not permit Sophia Travis grant funding to be used to subsidize a county department and therefore
- collaborative grant application with a county department partner is not allowed. Additionally,
- We come to public presentations. Applicants are requested but not required to give a brief three minute
- or less presentation on their request. During the presentation, a cover slide will be displayed with
- the agency's basic information. If you can go to the next slide. This is what that cover slide looks
- like. We have this template available at the council office. If you'd like a copy of that, we can send
- it to you. Just reach out to the council office and we'll get that to you.
- Otherwise, you could develop a cover slide of your own. We just need to be sure that includes a brief
- mission statement about one to three lines, the address, street, city, state, and zip, the agency's
- phone number, agency website, and our Facebook address, if applicable, and the leadership team names.
- As I said, this is not a requirement, but it is highly encouraged because it gives you a chance to share
- your agency's services and is what
- and expand on your project as well. Unfortunately, we are not able to accommodate a prerecorded or virtual
- presentation. All presentations must be done in person. And then lastly, and again, we've mentioned
- this a few times, we have our grant spending report. This is a crucial component of the grant process.
- The report must contain a summary of your project and how it went
- and all invoices and receipts that Sophia Travis Awards funded. There is not a specific form or format
- for the spending report, but this is information that is required per your agreement. As a reminder,
- your 2024 grant award summary report is due at the end of the month, March 31st of this year. To ensure
- your eligibility to apply for the 2026 grant award, please get your report, invoices, receipts, council
- checks, email to the council office as soon as possible.
- As a reminder, the 2025 grant spending report is due no later than March 31st, 2027, and due to the
- fact that we've shifted this year's grant application period forward, the 2026 award report will be
- due no later than December 31st of 2027.
- So if you receive funding in 2025 and 2026 from Sophia Travis, you'll have two reports due in 2027,
- one in March and one December 31st. And all of this will be, yeah. And all these dates and this information
- will be available on our website. We'll also probably hit the highlights on Facebook as well. And then,
- Additionally, this year, we've been reaching out to the nonprofit alliance to include information in
- their newsletter. So that will all be avenues in which you can gain information about these deadlines
- and tweaks that we've added to this year's process. Not lastly. So contact us if you have any questions
- after this evening or once you start
- getting into the application itself, please feel free to reach out to us by email or by phone. Facebook
- we use mostly for notices. We haven't really been communicating back and forth on Facebook. So email
- and phone is probably best if you need a response. But if you're looking for notices and just general
- information, that will be available on the Facebook and website. So lastly, then, are important dates
- and deadlines coming up.
- Again, tomorrow, the application period will begin, so Thursday, March 12th. April 27th, the application
- period will end. May 13th, we'll have the applicants present, that's the presentation night we talked
- about. June 9th is when the committee would make their award recommendation to the county council. June
- 10th is when we would like to host those
- agencies and organizations that receive an award to come sign their agreements. The sooner we can get
- those agreement signed and submitted, the sooner we can get people their checks. And with that goal
- in mind, we anticipate being able to have checks ready for the agencies July 16th, pick up in the auditor's
- office after 1 p.m. And so we would like to turn the time back to
- committee member Robertson for any questions in there in this next little while. Thank you. Nice job
- presenting all that information. Appreciate it very much. So now we've come to the point where we'd
- like to invite anyone that has any questions to please come up to the podium here in the NatU Hill room,
- or you can raise your hand on teams and we will try to do our best to get to everybody in order.
- we might have somebody on teams. James, are you able to unmute yourself
- Okay, I think I unmuted myself. Yes. So, do you need any audited financial statements or is other unaudited
- statements sufficient for those requirements?
- We've never had that question before. They're asking if are we requiring audited financial statements? Yeah.
- We will just have to review that, that we've never made that a requirement that they be audited. I think
- what we've always requested with regards to what needs to be submitted with the application is,
- you know, if you spend $500, we need to see a spending report or a check that matches that $500 or a
- receipt that shows that that. So maybe that might answer your question.
- but we will get back with you. You have the name and contact information. In our case, the audited statements
- are usually a little bit older than our most current financial statements. Sometimes there's a timeline
- between what gets the audited versions and the most recent fiscal year. That's what I was asking. I
- think that you answered the question. Okay, thank you.
- Do we have anybody else here in the audience or on teams that would like to ask a question of the council
- or the committee? Can you come up, right? Please open the podium, please, yes.
- Thank you. I have two questions. One for the collaborative applications. Do both agencies need to be
- 501C3? No. You need to designate whoever is going to be the fiscal body for that agency needs to be
- a 501C. Great. And then are all applicants
- Do all applicants do the presentations, or is there a selection process prior to that? We send out a
- date saying, you know, we have the date. So everybody that turns in an application, then we send you
- the order in which to present. So if you show up, you present. If you don't show up, we move on to the
- next person that's in line. Thank you.
- Can you tell us your name, please, so we know who you are? Yes, I'm Sarah Farmer. Thank you. Do we have
- anyone else in the audience or anyone else via Teams to ask a question? Okay, seeing none, then I would
- that we are done here today. Thank you all for coming. Thank you all for viewing today, and hopefully
- we have lots of applicants this year. We had quite a few last year, so I'm excited to see who we get
- this year. The applications will be posted on the website tomorrow afternoon. So.
- If they're not there, just give us a chance because we've got to work through with TSD to get all the
- links working and that kind of thing. So, you know, we'll do our best to have everything ready tomorrow
- afternoon. But you can always give us a call, like we said. All right. Well, thank you very much. Meetings
- adjourned.