The Villages Receives $200,000 Grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust
INDIANAPOLIS—Dec. 4, 2018—The Villages of Indiana has received a grant totaling $200,000 from the Nine Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. The two-year grant will support outreach efforts to attract, train and support licensed foster families for Hoosier foster youth. Funds also will support items not covered by traditional foster care reimbursement. The Villages is the state’s largest not-for-profit child and family services agency providing therapeutic foster care services.
In 2013, there were over 13,500 children in need of foster families, primarily due to child abuse and neglect. This year, data shows there are over 26,000 Children in Need of Services in Indiana. “Our team has seen the number of Hoosier children in need of a safe family setting more than double primarily due to the opioid epidemic,” says Sharon Pierce, The Villages president and CEO. “These vital resources will help The Villages team support families who have opened their hearts, their homes and their lives to the children in desperate need of a safe and nurturing family.”
In Marion County, juvenile court experts believe some 90 percent of children they see in their courtroom are in need of foster care because of the drug abuse of their parents. They report 57 percent of these children are under 5 years old, which is a developmental period critical to brain development, emotional stability and future educational success.
The Villages strives for foster youth to have stability today for success later in life. Last year, of the 700 children served by The Villages foster families, 9 of 10 children had one Villages’ foster home placement. Industry data shows children typically average as many as five placements. Funding will support the ongoing need to attract, train and support license Hoosier foster families. It also will provide for items that are not covered by the traditional foster care reimbursement, such as child care, special medical needs devices, support for multiple weekly trips to medical and hospital appointments, or specialized therapy.
“The Villages has a proven track record of retaining foster families, which equates to critical stability in the lives of foster children who, too often, experience chaos and uncertainty. With this grant, we hope to help The Villages identify and recruit more families to foster the growing number of Indiana’s displaced children,” said Kent E. Agness, trustee of the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
The grant to The Villages represents one of 19 awarded to organizations in Indiana by the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust during the second of two grant cycles this year. Since the Trust began its grant making in 1998, it has awarded $305 million to 988 organizations in its home states of Indiana and Arizona.
The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust was established upon the death of Nina Mason Pulliam in 1997 to support the causes she loved in her home states of Arizona and Indiana. The Trust seeks to help people in need, protect animals and nature, and enrich community life in metropolitan Indianapolis and Phoenix. For more information visit www.NinaPulliamTrust.org.