Location: East Chicago, IN
Contact Info: Contact form here, or call 219-392-4245
Coverage Area: East Chicago, IN
Subject Areas: Education, public safety, youth development, health, community economic development, family support services.
Assets: $32.90 million (2013)
Last Year Total Giving: $2.56 million to 80 programs (2013)
In a nutshell:
The Foundations of East Chicago are funded by East Chicago’s local casino, AMERISTAR East Chicago Casino and Hotel. The foundation receives 1 percent of the casino’s revenue to fund the Foundations of East Chicago. The foundation started in 1997 as a community task force addressing gaming concerns and citizen control over gaming dollars.
The Foundations of East Chicago has since evolved into a streamlined enterprise, funding local non-profits and attracting the support of numerous community agencies. Russell G. Taylor was the executive director for most of the foundation’s life, although he has recently stepped down. Today, George Weems is the interim executive director, and Nadyne Kokot is the president.
The Foundation’s of East Chicago’s philosophy is centered upon the idea that they work “behind the scenes to support the programs which strengthen the quality of life” for the community’s citizens, from children to seniors. Its main values are integrity, wise stewardship, and cultural diversity. While it funds many programs that serve East Chicago in different ways, its main focus areas are education, public safety, youth development, health, community economic development and family support services.
Recently (2014), the foundation has launched two new education initiatives. The first is called the Greenhouse Fellowship program, which organizes a school-to-career project for high school students and local non-profits. The second is called American Honors, which allows students to stay in their home community while earning an associate degree with honors.
How to Apply:
While there are no active requests for proposals at this time, there are three yearly cycles of applications for participation in the foundation’s collaborative grant approach. This means that they set up key goals for their services, and organizations with projects that meet those goals can specifically apply to work within those collaboration networks.
See more information about the different applications for program grants, collaboration grants and general operation grants here.
Recent News and Grantmaking:
Foundations of East Chicago Presents: Social Media 101 for Non-Profits (July 1, 2015)
Foundations of East Chicago Awards $178,000 In Scholarships to 57 Local Students (May 14, 2015)
Foundations of East Chicago Awards Over $400,000 in Program Grants (April 15, 2015)
2015 Operating Grant Award Recipients Announced (December 11, 2014)