Congregations With Community Opens $2.5 Million Grant Program for Indiana Congregations

Congregations With Community is currently accepting applications for more than $2.5 million in grants designed to support Indiana congregations and community organizations in addressing local needs. Individual grants range from $100,000 to $250,000, and the next round of funding is open to any Christian congregation or community development corporation connected to a congregation located in Indiana. Applicants must partner with an outside organization to address issues such as unemployment, homelessness, or teen pregnancy, with all applications due by Sept. 11.

The initiative has already awarded 51 grants during its first two funding cycles. McKenzie Scott Lewis, Senior Director of Congregations With Community, emphasized that the organization seeks transformational rather than transactional outcomes. She stated, “We don’t want our grants to be transactional—we want them to be transformational. The key word in our nonprofit’s name is ‘with.’ We are with you every step of the way so you are not fighting alone. We want these funds to help facilitate your vision, your mission and your dreams.”

In Gary, Ind., a partnership between Flourish Church and the nonprofit Butterfly Dreamz illustrates this collaborative model. The groups engaged local youth to revitalize Elsie’s Park, a greenspace near the intersection of West 25th Avenue and Morton Street. Funding supported the creation of paid internships and leadership opportunities for young people, allowing participants to build skills, research community needs, and help shape a project to strengthen their neighborhood.

For many participants, this represented the first time they had been offered a paid opportunity to learn, lead, and contribute to their community. Joy Lindsay, founder and CEO of Butterfly Dreamz, noted that youth feedback highlighted a lack of safe spaces. She said, “One of the things that they talked about was just the spaces—not having enough spaces to come and be free and feel safe.” This input directly informed the revitalization efforts for Elsie’s Park.

More than 100 youth participated in reimaging and improving the park, and the effort generated more than $50,000 in additional support for the project. Community members joined the effort after observing the young people and volunteers at work. Dexter Harris, senior leader at Flourish Church, expressed hope that the experience would leave a positive mark on the participants’ lives. He stated, “My hope is that some of the young people that we got an opportunity to work with, even if they never stepped foot in the church, they can look back down the corridors of history of their experience here in Gary with Butterfly Dreamz and the church and have a positive experience.”

The work reflects a commitment to practical neighbor-love and the restoration of community spaces, echoing the call in Galatians 6:10 to do good to all people, especially those within the household of faith. By investing in youth leadership and shared community spaces, the partnership demonstrates how faith-based and secular organizations can unite to address tangible local needs.

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