OVERVIEW: Glick Family Foundation supports affordable housing, arts and creative expression, education, helping those in need, self-sufficiency and community leadership and investment in central Indiana.
IP TAKE: The Glick Family Foundation is the primary grantmaking organization of the Glick family. There are several philanthropic vehicles housed under the Glick Philanthropies banner, but most of these do not make direct grants and instead focus on their own projects and initiatives. This is not a transparent funder, and it can be unclear at times which Glick organizations support which projects. Most of family foundation grants stay around Indianapolis. This funder is open to contact from grantseekers with questions or general inquiries.
PROFILE: Established in 1982, the Glick Family Foundation is a family foundation with corporate roots based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It seeks to support “organizations that enhance education, self-sufficiency and quality of life in central Indiana and beyond.” The family launched a large-scale housing company, now the Gene B. Glick Company, which is a privately held real estate management and development firm that has over 21,000 units in 13 states. The Glick Family Foundation is one of the most active family foundations in the state of Indiana. It funds local efforts for affordable housing, arts and creative expression, education, helping those in need, self-sufficiency and community leadership and investment.
In addition to the Glick Family Foundation, Glick Philanthropies grantmaking also includes the Glick Fund at the Central Indiana Community Foundation, the Glick Fund at the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis, Glick Housing Foundation, Far Eastside Success Initiative, and TeenWorks.
Grants for Arts and Culture
The Glick Family Foundation’s Arts & Creative Expression focus area supports the creative economy and community development through arts experiences.
The family donated $15 million to help construct the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, an eight-mile bike and pedestrian trail through Indianapolis, as well as the Glick Peace Walk, a park located at the entrance to the trail that includes 12 sculpture gardens that celebrate “individuals who made peaceful contributions to humanity.”
Glick also created the Indiana Authors Awards in 2018 to recognize the accomplishments of Indiana authors.
In addition to these projects, the Glick Family Foundation has given $1.18 million to Indianapolis Museum of Art. Other museums that saw support include Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Hoosier Salon Patrons Association, Indiana State Museum, and The Children’s Museum.
Indianapolis Art Center saw $398,440 in donations from Glick. Other arts grantees include Heartland Film, The Penrod Society, Indiana Sports Corporation, Arts Council of Indianapolis, Mervis Family Foundation, and Harrison Center for the Arts.
Grants for Early Childhood Development, K-12 and Higher Education
The Glick Family Foundation’s Education grants support high-quality Pre-K, post-secondary education and workforce development. Currently, the two primary initiatives it supports are focused on Pre-K and elementary school-aged children.
Its Pre-K initiative works to increase access to high-quality Pre-K programs for low-income families throughout Indianapolis.
The PLA@103 initiative derives from the Far Eastside Success Initiative, which Glick helped spearhead in 2015. Glick’s $800,000 grant helped transform the school from the district’s lowest-performing elementary school to one of the district’s best.
In addition to these priority initiatives, the foundation has also made grants to several K-12 schools, organizations, and school districts in the area, including Bishop Chatard High School, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School, DeKalb County Central United School District, and Early Learning Indiana.
Glick established the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Scholarship by giving over $950,000 to provide scholarships to graduating seniors of Indianapolis Metropolitan High School.
Higher education does not typically see as much support as K-12, but the foundation gave $100,000 to Ball State University. Other higher education grantees include Ivy Tech Community College, Butler University, Marian University, and Indiana University.
Grants for Public Health and Access, Diseases, Brain and Cell
Glick provides Basic Needs grants through its Property Nominated Grant Program, which works to address health disparities and hunger for individuals and families through increased food access, transportation, utility assistance, and mental health.
Food insecurity grants have supported Food Bank of Northern Indiana, Gary Brackett’s Impact Foundation, Food Finders Food Bank, and Family Promise of Greater Indianapolis.
Health grants have gone to Agape Therapeutic Riding Resources, which has seen steady support over the years, as well as Fairbanks Hospital, Gennesaret Free Clinic, and Mental Health America of Greater Indianapolis.
The foundation gave $30 million to create the Glick Eye Institute at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
A complete list of recent Property Nominated grantees is available on the program page.
Glick also provides support outside of its primary grant program for groups in which the family takes an interest.
It has heavily supported cancer charities including American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest, American Brain Tumor Association, American Cancer Society, Cancer Services of Allen County, Cancer Support Community of Central Indiana, and Colorectal Cancer Alliance.
Alzheimer’s groups too have seen significant support including Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association Greater Indiana Chapter, Lakes Alzheimer’s Foundation, Alzheimer’s Family Center, and Alzheimer’s Association.
Larger national groups that have seen support include American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, Arthritis Foundation, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Grants for Work and Economic Opportunities
Glick’s Economic Mobility grants support “efforts that create equitable opportunities for people, especially those who have been historically underserved.”
Glick established TeenWorks, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that falls under the Glick Philanthropies umbrella. With programs in both Indianapolis and Muncie, it allows teens to gain work experience through six-week paid internships.
Glick supports the Excel Center, a program of Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana, which provides tuition-free high school opportunities for adults to earn a diploma.
Glick Philanthropies gave $375,000 to help fund the Great Families 2020 program at Community Alliance of the Far Eastside, which supports families by “combining access to high-quality pre-k education with financial mobility coaches, workforce development programming and health supports.”
Grants for Community Development
Finally, community leadership and investment grants address the needs of residents on the far east side of Indianapolis in the areas of pre-kindergarten programs, public schools and economic self-sufficiency.
Efforts in this area marry the work of three separate Glick projects under the banner of the Far Eastside Success Initiative:
Carriage House East one of the Glick Housing Foundation’s affordable communities
PLA@103, the city’s first Innovation Network School
The Center for Working Families at Community Alliance of the Far Eastside, which provides financial and career counseling
The foundation has made other grants outside of these initiatives that contribute to community development efforts, including to the Center for Leadership Development and Junior Achievement of Central Indiana for Youth Economic Development.
Glick has demonstrated that Indianapolis youth, especially children living in the far eastside, are a clear funding priority. In addition to the youth programs and services it established and continues to support, the foundation has given grants millions to Children’s Bureau over the years. It has also supported Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana, Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, Child Advocates, Finish Line Youth Foundation, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, and Catch the Stars Foundation for youth sports.
Grants for Housing and Homelessness
Glick’s affordable housing support provides quality, affordable housing for low-income individuals and families. Work in this area is administered by the Glick Housing Foundation, which does not provide grants but “provides affordable apartment homes and invests in onsite services to support resident well-being.”
Grants for Jewish Causes and Religion
The Glick Family Foundation supports Jewish causes and Israel, although most of these are modest one-time gifts. Previous grantees include Jewish Adoption and Foster Care Options, America-Israel Friendship League, Eskenazi Health Foundation, Jewish Community Center of Indianapolis, American Friends of Hebrew University, American Jewish Committee, Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis, American Jewish Historical Society, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps, and Birthright Israel.
The Glick family does additional philanthropy in this area through the Glick Fund at the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis.
The family foundation has also given to other types of area religious groups including God’s Grace Community Church, Catholic Charities Indianapolis, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Center for Interfaith Cooperation, Metropolitan Ministries, Eastern Area Community Ministries, and Common Grace Ministries.
Important Grant Details
Grants typically range between $500 and $1 million; however, the most common amount is $1,000. Grantmaking focuses on central Indiana and other regions of interest to the family and company.
The Glick Family Foundation and the Glick Fund at the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis do not accept unsolicited applications or requests for funding.
The Glick Fund at the Central Indiana Community Foundation awards grants twice per year and has a closed application process where only selected organizations are invited to apply.
Other organizations housed under the Glick Philanthropies umbrella do not typically accept applications.
Direct general questions to the staff at GlickPhilanthropies@glickco.com or 317-469-5877.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
