YSB Receives $880K Grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

Youth Service Bureau of St. Joseph County (YSB) has received a grant of $880,146 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to complete the YSB Center for Youth Success and support vital agency positions focused on transforming the lives of homeless youth in our community.

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.

“The YSB Center for Youth Success started out as a vision and a sketch on a napkin.” says YSB CEO, Christina McGovern. “Through the Lilly Endowment grant and our engaged community, this dream is coming to life.” McGovern continued. “The YSB Center for Youth Success will house a centralized continuum of services —from prevention to housing—to support youth who are in crisis and/or struggling with homelessness. With support from Lilly Endowment, YSB will create a state-of-the-art new space for youth that will be a catalyst to ending youth homelessness in our community.” says McGovern.

Youth Service Bureau of St. Joseph County 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.

About Lilly Endowment Inc.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. Although the Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, it maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.