Being for Others launches $650,000 grant cycle for eight-county region
The Being for Others Health and Wellness Foundation officially launched its first grant cycle with $650,000 available to support health and wellness initiatives across eight counties in southern Indiana.
The foundation, which began operations in Dubois County on February 1, 2024, emerged from a $20 million endowment provided by the Deaconess Health System when it became the new sponsor of Memorial Hospital and Healthcare Centre, now Deaconess Memorial Medical Center.
“Our goal is to really make a huge impact in our communities,” said Tonya Heim, board chair of the foundation, during the kickoff event at the Dubois County Museum.
Heim, who served at Memorial Hospital as Chief Nursing Officer before retiring, said she is excited to be part of a group dedicated to addressing the root causes of some of our community’s health issues.
The foundation overlaps Memorial’s footprint in the region, serving Dubois, Pike, Davies, Martin, Orange, Crawford, Perry, and Spencer counties. During Wednesday’s open house, Heim explained the eight petals in the organization’s flower-shaped logo represent the counties it serves.
Christian Blome, the foundation’s president, announced that the application portal is now open, with three funding cycles planned for 2024. The first deadline is April 15, with awards in June, a second cycle ending June 10 with August awards, and a final cycle closing October 7 with November awards.
“The Being for Others Health and Wellness Foundation exists to build healthier, stronger communities,” Blome told the crowd of 144 attending the open house. “Today I’m thrilled to announce that we will be awarding $650,000 in grants yet this year to support transformative projects across our eight counties.”
The foundation’s mission statement—”create a culture of health and wellness for the betterment of our community”—supports its vision of “healthy communities.”
The foundation’s eight priority pillars for 2025 funding include access to comprehensive healthcare, mental health and substance use support, healthy living and chronic disease prevention, transportation and connectivity, early childhood and family support, housing and economic stability, social and civic engagement, and community safety and violence prevention.
These priorities emerged from extensive research, including a listening campaign across all eight counties, data from nine local community health needs assessments, four regional and state assessments, and information from national organizations, including the CDC, World Health Organization, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
“These pillars are meant to be broad and to serve as a vehicle that should allow almost any organization serving our region to partner with BFO,” Blome said.
The foundation’s values include collaboration, respect, equity, integrity, stewardship, compassion, and results.
“We recognize that each of our communities that we serve has diverse needs and that it’s through fair and equitable distribution of our grant dollars that we’ll be able to assist them on their journey to become healthy communities,” Heim says.
The heart at the center of the foundation’s logo represents compassion, a value that connects the organization to both Memorial Hospital and Deaconess Health System.
“Compassion is a word that if you look at the memorial mission statement, the memorial vision statement and the memorial values, it’s on all three of those. And if you look at the Deaconess Health System mission statement, it’s in that mission statement as well,” Heim explained.
The foundation’s tagline—”be well, be healthy, be for others”—reinforces its mission.
Mary Champion, the newly hired Director of Operations, is available to help organizations through the application process. Blome encouraged potential applicants to connect with Champion to “brainstorm ideas, to connect you with resources and assist you through the application process.”
The foundation’s board includes Chair Tonya Heim, Vice Chair Donna Balka, Treasurer Sherril Lueken, Secretary Sister Renee Cunningham, and directors Caroline Brinster, Dan Collignon, Lisa Day, Jim Huebner, Michael Kern, Erin Meyer, Rebecca Michael, Dr. Christy Nord, Dr. Sohail Qadir, Joe Schitter, and Meredith Voegerl.
All applications will be reviewed by the foundation’s grants committee, scored based on impact and alignment with the mission, and approved by the board of directors.
The foundation’s website, beingforothers.org, includes an overview of the mission, vision, values, and detailed information about each of the eight pillars. The “Apply for a Grant” button in the upper right corner of the website takes visitors directly to the application.
“BFO is here to stay and we see this as a long-term relationship impacting real change in our area, changing lives and lifting up communities,” Blome said.
Interested organizations can complete an application and find more details at www.beingforothers.org/grants.
For more information contact us at 812-556-0400, info@beingforothers.org or visit www.beingforothers.org
