Quality of Place: Pathways to Progress Grants

The Quality of Place: Pathways to Progress Grants, offered by the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana, aim to enhance access to safe and high-quality public spaces for individuals facing economic and mobility challenges. By partnering with local nonprofits, the foundation seeks to improve safety, accessibility, and environmental quality of amenities, ultimately fostering a more inclusive community. Since its inception in 1991, the foundation has awarded over $5 million annually to support initiatives that benefit the Southern Indiana region.

Through their support, and funds from the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc., the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana was established in 1991 with nearly $1 million and a handful of funds.
The 1990’s were full of growth as the market surged and helped the Foundation grow quickly with over $1.7 million in grants awarded in 1999.
Since 1991, the Community Foundation has continued to grow – today administering over $164 million assets, annually granting more than $5 million to causes that impact our community, and stewarding more than 280 individual funds, and providing leadership on important community issues.
The Foundation’s Quality of Place – Pathways to Progress Grants will focus on serving people with the least access to safe, high-quality public places and amenities, typically those who have low incomes and/or who have transportation or mobility challenges or physical and/or mental differences. When their lives are improved, our communities are more welcoming and attractive to all residents, tourists, and employers.
Priority Results
For these populations, we will work with our nonprofit partners to improve:

• Both real and perceived safety of existing amenities (greenspaces, parks, playgrounds, rivers, etc.)
• Safe and affordable access to the amenities (trails, public/shared transit, etc.)
• Environmental quality and sustainability of those amenities
• Use of the areas to increase physical activity – which will improve health outcomes, such as obesity and other health risks
• “What Works” to achieve these results:
• Safe, accessible routes to parks and greenspaces through public transportation, sidewalks, crosswalks, bike trails, and access points
• Parks infrastructure that connects existing parks and ensures parks are safe and accessible for people with limited mobility
• Attractive programs and activities in parks or greenspaces that promote physical activity
• Safety features and amenities available in parks
• Activation of unused or underused public spaces, such as pocket parks
• Marketing and communication about activities offered in parks and greenspaces
• Advocacy and policy reform to improve air quality
• Advocacy and government partnerships around park and greenspace planning
• Complete Streets projects
• Collaboration on funder-led projects and initiatives around parks and greenspaces

Eligibility

The Community Foundation invites all charitable organizations including: charitable 501(c)(3) status organizations, schools, churches and governments in or serving Clark and Floyd counties to apply for grants.