Youth Services Bureau receives $227,700 grant

The Youth Services Bureau of Huntington County (YSB) has received a grant of $227,700 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help expand the Safe Place program, and to provide major building and ground improvement.

The program is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s initiative, Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana. The aim of the competitive initiative is to help youth-serving organizations working throughout Indiana improve their abilities to promote the academic, physical and social well-being of young people, ages five through 18.

This award will allow the agency to add additional crisis staff to meet the needs of young people in Huntington, Whitley and Wabash Counties through the Safe Place/Host Home program. In addition, the agency will be able to provide much needed upgrades to the building including but not limited to new roofing, siding, landscaping, flooring throughout the building and technology upgrades.

“The YSB is so humbled by this award. The agency has always had a very lean budget and capital improvement has always been low on the list of priorities due to the ever-increasing needs of the clients we serve. With these funds our building will have a rejuvenated look, but the building itself will be in a better position to continue to serve youth, families and the community for years to come,” stated Jan Williams, executive director.

YSB is one of 187 organizations receiving grants through Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana.

“Indiana’s youth-serving organizations are crucial to the healthy development of children and youth across the state,” said Ted Maple, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for education. “The challenges these organizations have faced in meeting the needs of young people in recent years have made their work increasingly difficult. Lilly Endowment is pleased to support their efforts to strengthen programs and serve more youth more effectively.”

Lilly Endowment launched Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana Initiative in 2022 with an invitational round of grants to nine national youth-serving organizations to help them expand and enhance the work of their Indiana affiliates or chapters.