United Way of Franklin County Receives Second COVID-19 Economic Relief Initiative Grant

UWFC plans to distribute funds to existing partners providing relief in both Franklin and Ripley Counties

United Way of Franklin County (UWFC) is pleased to announce that it will receive a second COVID-19 Economic Relief Initiative grant for $148,998 from Indiana United Ways, the state professional association of which UWFC is a member. The grant will be used to support our community in meeting basic human needs brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in Franklin and Ripley Counties.

The grant is one of 47 grants that Indiana United Ways is making to member organizations and community foundations through the initiative, which was made possible by funding Indiana United Ways received from Lilly Endowment Inc.

“United Way of Franklin County has been a key convener and coordinator of our community’s response to meet human needs for decades. Even before this crisis, we knew that 1 in 3 families in Franklin and Ripley were not able to make ends meet - despite working. In the wake of COVID, those needs became even more dire. Thanks to the generous, continued support of Lilly Endowment to our State Association, we can continue to help our community, through nonprofit partners, deal with and hopefully resolve the impacts of this trying time,” said Kelly Bulmer, UWFC Executive Director.

The second COVID-19 Economic Relief Initiative grant again calls for United Ways that receive funding to leverage partnerships and relationships to better meet COVID-related basic needs aligned with the social determinants of health as defined by the CDC. Specifically, UWFC plans to distribute funds to existing partners providing relief in both Franklin and Ripley Counties.

In April 2020, Lilly Endowment helped Indiana United Ways establish the COVID-19 Economic Relief Initiative with an initial $30 million grant. Franklin and Ripley counties received $300,000 at that time and that money was given to over 27 agencies, pantries, community relief programs and schools. Lilly Endowment made an additional $15 million grant in March to Indiana United Ways to support the initiative. Both grants are part of Lilly Endowment’s overall grantmaking to help organizations meet COVID-related needs. Since March 2020, Lilly Endowment has made grants totaling more than $210 million to organizations working in Indiana and across the nation as they respond to the pandemic.