Colts owners announce $1.4 million in Kicking The Stigma grants

INDIANAPOLIS — Nearly two dozen nonprofit organizations have received a total of $1.4 million in grants from Jim Irsay and the Indianapolis Colts through the Kicking The Stigma Action Grants program.

Irsay announced the grant recipients on Monday. The organizations, most of which are based in Indiana, provide mental health services or resources.

“Over the past two years of Kicking The Stigma, we’ve been blessed to meet so many great people and organizations across our state and country who are doing important work to bring hope and relief. to so many people struggling with mental illnesses,” Colts vice president and owner Kalen Jackson said. “We have great respect and admiration for these dedicated advocates, so we hope these action grants will help them continue to bring this topic out of obscurity and into light.”

Here are the grant recipients and a description of the work done by each organization:

• A Kid Again – Indiana Chapter: A Kid Again’s mission is to bring hope, happiness and healing to families raising children with life-threatening illnesses. The grant will support her Holiday Balance Box, which provides mental health support to families raising children with life-threatening illnesses.
• Agape Therapeutic Riding Resources (Indianapolis): Agape’s mission is to cultivate personal growth by empowering mind, body, and spirit through unique horse-assisted experiences. The grant will support his Beyond the Barn program, which addresses mental health through equine therapy and other equestrian activities.
• American Academy of Associate Physicians (AAPA) (Statewide): Because Physician Assistants are often the first points of contact for patients in primary care and other practices, the grants funded mental health first aid training,© which teaches trainees how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness. A cohort of Indiana Physician Assistants received this initial training at Colts headquarters in Indianapolis and will continue to train at least 2,000 more in Indiana.
• St. Vincent Ascension Hospital (Indianapolis): Grant will support the Hospital System’s Question-Persuade-Refer Awareness, which trains participants to be able to recognize the warning signs of suicidal thought, behavior, attempts and to “Question, Persuade, and Refer “people at risk to get help.
• Brightlane Learning (formerly School on Wheels) (Indianapolis): Brightlane’s mission is to transform the lives of students impacted by homelessness with personalized tutoring and academic support. The grant will support training in social-emotional learning and trauma-informed care for Brightline volunteers.
• At Brooke’s (Indianapolis): Brooke’s Place offers support groups, therapy services and community education to enable children, teens and their families to thrive in the midst of bereavement. The grant will support his Youth Grief Gap Access (Y-Gap) project, a program centered on peer support groups and individual therapy.
• Carmel (Ind.) Educational Foundation: The grant will support the Carmel Schools Rise & Grow Fund, which provides mental health services to Carmel students in need to help prepare them for positive outcomes in all areas of their lives.
• brave healing (Fort Wayne): The mission of Courageous Healing is to restore, strengthen and facilitate healing through culture-centered mental health services and supports. The grant will support programs for uninsured, underinsured, and low-income Hoosiers, with an intentional focus on targeting minority populations in northeast Indiana.
• Greenwood (Ind.) Educational Foundation (FEM): During the COVID-19 pandemic, it became apparent that students could not reach their full academic potential if their physical, mental, emotional, and social needs had not been met. The grant will fund the WEF Youth and Family Assistance Program, which was created to help make food, clothing, and mental health resources affordable and accessible for youth and families in Greenwood schools.
• South East Hamilton Education Foundation (Fishers): The grant will support the foundation’s Project HOPE fund, which provides students in need with access to school-based mental health services.
• Indiana HVAF (Statewide): HVAF houses, supports and advocates for veterans and their families to achieve a better quality of life and serves homeless veterans and those at risk of becoming homeless. The grant will support HVAF’s therapy program, which provides intensive therapy services through a full-time licensed mental health clinician and two full-time peer mentors.
• Indiana University Southeastern School of Nursing (New Albany): The grant will fund mental health first aid training for nursing students at the school.
• Indiana Youth Group (IYG) (Statewide): IYG creates safer spaces to foster community and provides programs that strengthen and amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ youth. The grant will support Help Us Grow Stronger, the IYG’s mental health counseling program.
• Mental Health America (MHA) of Indiana (Statewide): The Indiana MHA appreciates the need to work collaboratively with various organizations that can help benefit the communities they serve by promoting prevention for all, the early identification, intervention for those at risk, integrated health and behavioral health care for those in need, and recovery as a goal.
• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Greater Indianapolis: NAMI Greater Indianapolis is a community-based organization of families, friends and consumers that works with NAMI Indiana and NAMI National to improve the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness through education, support and defense of interests.
• Noblesville Schools Education Foundation (Ind.): The purpose of Noblesville Schools Education Foundation is to promote and invest in Noblesville schools through grants, scholarships, strategic partnerships and volunteer support. The grant will fund mental health support services for students and staff at Noblesville schools.
• Indiana International Postpartum Support (PSI IN): PSI-IN promotes awareness, prevention, and treatment of reproductive mental health issues throughout Indiana. The grant will support his condition High Risk Training Initiative for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders.
• Healthy Minds Project (National): Project Healthy Minds is a millennial-led organization that develops anti-stigma campaigns that change attitudes, technology that makes it easier and faster to seek help, and programs and partnerships that expand access taking care. Its two centerpieces are: creating a free, one-stop digital referral platform to increase access to care, and designing a cross-platform anti-stigma campaign featuring culture makers and influencers.
• Community Reintegration Public Advocates (Indianapolis): Its mission is to provide a variety of services to incarcerated and previously incarcerated individuals and their families to lead productive and responsible lives in their communities. The grants will fund peer-certified recovery coaches who bring lived experience of substance use disorders and recovery, combined with professional training, to help others on their recovery journey.
• Riley Children’s Foundation (State): The grant will fund Riley’s Indiana Youth Behavioral Access Program (Be Happy), which aims to improve Hoosier families’ access to best practices in pediatric behavioral health care throughout the state by supporting health care providers in their local communities with the guidance of psychiatric specialists.
• Intensify (Indianapolis): Step-Up provides comprehensive HIV care and wellness resources with dignity and inclusion. The grant will support its reintegration program, which provides holistic supports such as mental health and addictions counselling, transportation, housing and employment resources, and ongoing support to those involved in the rehabilitation system. criminal justice.
• The milk bank (Statewide): The milk bank promotes community health by expanding the safe use of breast milk for all babies, especially premature and sick infants. The grant will support her Mind Body Spirit Group facilitation, an evidence-based program for healing psychological trauma and stress on a population scale.
• Tindley Accelerated Schools (Indianapolis): Grant will support a “reset room” as part of the Indianapolis Charter School System’s Enhanced Behavioral Health Services.