(La Porte County, IN) - The Unity Foundation of La Porte County has received a $3.6 million grant to assist in creating more workforce and affordable housing.
The grant is from Lilly Endowment Inc., through the Community Leadership Implementation Grants component of the eighth phase of its Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VIII) initiative.
“We are delighted to receive this great news from the Lilly Endowment Inc. Our goal is to increase access to safe and affordable housing for people who live here. We are so grateful they share our vision,” said Maggi Spartz, Unity Foundation President. “
This is one of 30 implementation grants being awarded through GIFT VIII, which is a statewide Lilly Endowment initiative designed to support the efforts of community foundations, and their partners, to strengthen quality of life for the people in the towns, cities, counties and regions they serve.
With the grant, the Unity Foundation will “Open Doors to Housing” by supporting workforce and affordable housing developments, modernizing government, and removing barriers to housing development.
In 2020, the Vibrant Communities of La Porte County process identified housing as the top priority in La Porte County. As a result, the Unity Foundation, in partnership with the La Porte County Office of Economic and Community Development, conducted a Housing Study and Action Agenda in 2021.
The Unity Foundation then approached partners to strategize how to accelerate the Housing Action plan. Partners for this grant include the City of La Porte, Michigan City, La Porte County, Habitat for Humanity, Homeward Bound, and the Health Foundation of La Porte.
The Unity Foundation views this grant as an accelerator that will complement existing efforts to build workforce and affordable housing. It will support “smart development,” which includes implementing efforts to build on existing vacant lots, redeveloping and rehabilitating aging properties, and adding units of housing to upper story buildings in city centers.
The grant will also help municipalities update their comprehensive plans and modernize government through better software and technology.
Beginning in early 2025, the grant will support projects identified by the partners over the next three years, including the Singing Sands development in Michigan City, Homeward Bound’s Karwick Village, and La Porte County Habitat for Humanity’s Woodward Block.
“With these funds, we're not just breaking ground on new construction, we're breaking down barriers to affordable housing in La Porte County,” said Homeward Bound President Sandi Keller.
In 1990, Lilly Endowment launched the Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) initiative to help establish and further develop community foundations throughout Indiana.
Lilly Endowment hoped that Indiana’s community foundations could enhance the quality of life in their communities by convening conversations among people of diverse ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, occupations, races and cultural traditions about their communities’ most compelling needs and opportunities as well as the best ways to address them.
