This year the Brown County Community Foundation celebrates 30 years of providing funding and support for countless projects and services that have greatly impacted the Brown County community.
In 1990 the Lilly Endowment created a challenge to help local communities in Indiana develop the philanthropic capacity to identify and address local needs and challenges, BCCF CEO Maddison Miller said last week.
At that time, there were fewer than a dozen community foundations. Today, Miller said there are 94 community foundations and affiliate funds making grants to support local charitable organizations in all of Indiana’s 92 counties.
Throughout the past 30 years, Miller said assets of the Foundation have been “integral” to building many visible projects in the community, including the Brown County Public Library, the Brown County Community YMCA, the Brown County Historical Society, the Brown County Music Center, the Helping Hands facility that houses Mother’s Cupboard and Habitat for Humanity, the Salt Creek Trail — to name a few.
Kim Robinson, CEO of the Brown County YMCA, said last week that the BCCF has been a great resource for the YMCA, including being instrumental in getting the YMCA facility built.
She explained that the BCCF has helped them gain access to many resources, including a refrigerated box truck to provide food to the community during COVID and a brand new bus for the Access Brown County program, which provides low-cost transportation to Brown County residents.
Robinson also said the YMCA has an endowment fund that they draw from every year that helps with operations, and they have also written numerous grants through the BCCF.
“It’s just a wonderful resource for the community,” she said.
“I think a lot of non-profit organizations wouldn’t be here without the support of the foundation.”
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Powered by generosity
Miller last week shared some insight on the organization’s beginnings and what they aim to leave for the future.
Miller, who has been the foundation’s CEO since 2018, reflected positively on her time so far as CEO and said her position has allowed her to extend the spirit of giving to her professional life in new and exciting ways.
“My time with BCCF has provided the opportunity to extend my knowledgebase, to influence the direction of important projects, to network with other community members, and perhaps most important, to have a positive impact on both my current neighbors as well as the next generation,” she said.
Miller said last week that the foundation has also remained stable and flexible over the years to assist when natural disasters, such as the 2008 flood, or other public emergencies, like the COVID-19 pandemic, have created a sudden need within the community.
“Annually, we provide upwards of million dollars in grants and scholarships to the community,” Miller said.
“In fact, 2022 was a record year with grants and scholarships totaling over $1.7 million.”
Powered by generous donors, local leaders, and steadfast partners, Miller said the BCCF builds on the collective strength of the community to make life better in Brown County.
“We multiply the impact of each individual gift by investing them together for maximum return, then give those dividends back to the community in the form of grants and scholarships,” she said.
Miller also said the BCCF works to provide a “unified county voice” through consensus building.
“BCCF is a convener seeking solutions for the pressing unmet needs of the county, working regularly with social service organizations to prioritize and implement community projects,” she said.
“For example, current major initiatives include building a new high quality childcare facility for the county, subsidizing preschool scholarships for low income families, supporting mental health services in our schools, and much more.”
About what the future of the foundation holds, Miller said in a single word, “legacy.”
“BCCF will continue to build resources which meet present day needs, working with nonprofits to address them in a way that does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs,” she said.
“BCCF is financially and operationally structured so that we will be here to serve Brown County, quite literally forever. We are just temporary stewards of an organization that will constantly evolve to meet the needs of the future.”
Miller said the BCCF will continue to play a key role in identifying and solving community problems, striving to make Brown County a “wonderful place to live.”
In the immediate future, Miller said the BCCF will be shifting focus away from education, following the accomplishment of a multi-year goal of establishing the Early Education Center, and refocus some of their attention toward attainable housing.
“BCCF exists to help caring people give back to the causes and community they care about most. We make giving easy and effective,” she said.
Those interested in giving can give cash, stocks, property, bequests and other assets. They may also establish a charitable fund in their name or in the name of a loved one.
“You can focus your gift on the causes that move you: enrich education, safeguard health, improve neighborhoods, cultivate arts, protect environment, strengthen families,” Miller said.
Miller said the BCCF offers the power of endowment, “where a portion of your fund is invested so that it can grow over time.”
She said earnings from this investment are used to make grants that benefit the community forever.
“Your gift creates a lasting stream of funding available for community good,” she said.
