Well Foundation’s Greatest Need Fund awards $154,710 in annual grants

Community Foundation of Elkhart County gives grants that honor founders’ wishes

December 14, 2020

ELKHART, Indiana — Committee members overseeing the Well Foundation Greatest Need Fund awarded $154,710 in grants to improve health in Elkhart County.

The grants are being made from funds that were part of the Well Foundation, formerly named the Goshen Hospital & Health Care Foundation, which was created in 1969 to provide strength and stability to Goshen General Hospital so that future generations might have access to high quality health care. The Foundation gave more than $6 million to health needs of the surrounding community during its existence.

Its founders, a group of caring people who worked together to give back to the community, organized the Foundation with the intent of always having local control and management. For nearly 50 years, Well Foundation operated independently before the assets were transferred to the Community Foundation in March 2017. Many of the founding volunteers remain engaged, as committee members, in grant-making decisions surrounding healthcare in our community.

The Well Foundation Committee met in November to make annual awards from the Greatest Need Fund, which offers unrestricted grants to support community initiatives dedicated to helping Elkhart County citizens live longer, healthier lives.

“Former Well Foundation board and committee members came together and made decisions to help a number of initiatives in our community,” said Vonnie Trumble, Associate Program Officer for the Community Foundation. “We are grateful for their ongoing commitment to help improve community health.”

Grants this year are:

Boys & Girls Clubs, Running to Healthy Habits 2021, $4,000

CAPS, CFAC Program Health Food Options, $3,000

Center for Healing & Hope, Technology and Phones, $10,000

Community Sustainability Project (Goshen Farmers’ Market), Fresh Food Therapy, $3,210

Girls on the Run, Spring 2021 program, $14,000

Goshen College, Nursing Simulation Training in 2020, $15,000

Maple City Health Care, Affordable Tattoo Removal, $20,000

Northern Indiana Hispanic Health Coalition, Healthy Hearts-Healthy Minds Program, $30,000

REAL Services, Elkhart County Nutrition Sites, $5,000

Riverview Adult Day Center, Community Partnerships Phase 2, $4,000

Ryan’s Place, Grief Support Programs, $16,000

SAWS – Servants at Work, Ramp Up Elkhart County, $16,500

The Crossing, Elkhart Crossing ETC COVID-19 Response Project, $8,000

WheelchairHelp.Org, Lift Chair & Wide Wheelchair Restoration, $6,000

TOTAL: $154,710

In addition to the Greatest Need Fund, the former Well Foundation funds support a number of designated programs and scholarships, including the Howard S. Brembeck Vision and Dental Health, Schrock Nursing Education, Ken and Enid Swanson Nursing, Daly Family Nursing, Wolf Vision & Home Care, Imaging Education, Stanley Wolfe Fund, Ed Bradford Family Health Care 4-H Scholarship, and three scholarships in the name of Ned and Agda Farber.

In the photo above, Goshen College nursing student Maira Lopez works on a simulation exercise as part of her studies. The Well Foundation is supporting GC nursing simulations with this year’s grants.

Contact: Vonnie Trumble, Associate Program Officer, ; (574) 295-8761