The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation is proud to announce one-time grants to six nonprofit organizations doing vital work to address the root causes of violent crime. This year’s Charitable Grants recipients are the Domestic Violence Network, Eclectic Soul VOICES Corporation, Martin Luther King Center, Phalen Leadership Academies Indiana, Silent No More, Inc. and Thomas Ridley’s 1 Like Me.

2022 marks the second year for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation’s Charitable Grants program, which provides six one-time grants – each in the amount of $25,000 – to Indianapolis nonprofit organizations based on that year’s funding theme.

The funding theme for 2022 is especially timely, as in 2021, Indianapolis recorded its most violent year ever with 249 criminal homicides. This total follows substantial increases in 2020 in firearm-involved homicides, particularly for Black individuals, males and youth ages 15 to 24.

Each year, the Foundation chooses a funding theme based on pressing needs in Indianapolis, and the Foundation is guided by this theme when selecting six Indianapolis nonprofit organizations addressing these pressing needs. The Foundation identifies these organizations through research and conversations with city and community leaders with expertise on Indianapolis communities and neighborhood leadership. Nonprofits cannot apply to the Charitable Grants program, and the grants are awarded on a one-time basis.

While the bulk of the Foundation’s philanthropic funding continues to go toward its focus areas of Education, Health and the Vitality of Indianapolis, the Charitable Grants program helps continue Dick Fairbank’s legacy of small charitable grants. Since its inception in 1986, the Foundation has awarded more than $10 million overall in charitable grants.