By Muncie City Council—
MUNCIE, Ind.—Non-profit organizations can now apply for grant dollars earmarked to help those organizations and their clients who were hardest hit by COVID-19. In total, $2 million of the City of Muncie’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding of $31.7 million was set aside specifically to help the non-profit sector.
Applications are available on the city’s website and are due September 30, 2021.
Jeff Robinson, President of the City Council and District 2 Councilman, recruited a diverse committee representing non-profits, grantors, and local leaders to help inform how this grant process might work. He appointed 11 members and tapped Heart of Indiana United Way President & CEO Jenni Marsh to chair the committee. City Council’s attorney, Dan Gibson also attended meetings to advise and ensure the committee was within strict federal guidelines for the funding.
The committee landed on what the goals of the non-profit ARP dollars should be, then developed the process, the application, reviewers’ rubric, and grant report. All documents will be available on the City of Muncie’s website on September 1, 2021.
“I am so grateful to these committee members and United Way for creating such a thoughtful and thorough process which will no doubt help the grant-making go very smoothly,” Robinson explained.
To be eligible for funding, non-profits must be located within the City of Muncie, be a 501(C)3 in good standing, and must not discriminate based on age, race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, economic status, or sexual orientation. Those agencies with religious affiliation must not refuse services to a client based on religion or require attendance at religious services as a condition of assistance, nor will such groups engage in any religious proselytizing in any program receiving ARP funds.
“Equity and inclusion are really important to the committee that helped design this process as well as to the citizens of Muncie. At every point in the process, we made sure we were creating an inclusive process from those who apply and the people they serve, to the grants committee who will review applications,” Robinson explained.
Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to attend an informational session about the grant process. These forums will be held on Zoom. They are open to the public and free of charge.
The first informational session will be held on September 7, 2021 at 10 a.m. (EST). Registration in advance of the Sept 7th session is required.
An alternative info session will be held on September 15 at 5:30 p.m. (EST) Registration in advance of the Sept. 15 session is required.Within a few minutes of registering for either informational session, an email will be received confirming registration and providing information on how to join the sessions.
Before applying, those who are unable to attend an informational session are strongly encouraged to speak with United Way’s Director of Community Investments, Jim Flatford. He can be reached at jflatford@HeartOfIndiana.org and will help make sure applicants have important information and have their questions answered.
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