Dove Recovery House Receives $483,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc.
Dove Recovery House Receives $483,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc.
Transformational gift to Marion County’s largest women’s recovery residence will expand the nonprofit’s Steps to Success program for women transitioning out of residential care.
INDIANAPOLIS—Dove Recovery House, the largest women’s recovery residence in the city, has received a grant of $483,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its initiative, Enhancing Opportunity in Indianapolis. This grant, which will be used over two years, will provide funding to expand Dove House’s Steps to Success outpatient program, designed to connect women in recovery from substance use disorders with life-changing resources for living wage employment and affordable housing.
“We share the Endowment’s vision of enhancing opportunities for economic and social stability for the most vulnerable members of our community,” said Wendy Noe, Executive Director of Dove House. “Our Steps to Success program gives women who are overcoming addiction with essential tools and skills to re-enter society successfully while remaining substance free. The need is great, and this grant will allow us to serve even more women in the years to come. We are very grateful for Lilly Endowment’s support, generosity and commitment to our community.”
Dove House is one of 28 organizations being supported through Enhancing Opportunity in Indianapolis, an initiative designed to improve the livelihoods of individuals and families facing complex and varied challenges associated with poverty and financial insecurity.
“We are grateful for the tremendous response we received from the Indianapolis community during a time when organizations were called upon to significantly ramp up their existing programs and services in response to the acute needs brought on by the COVID-19 crisis,” said Rob Smith, Lilly Endowment’s senior vice president for collaborative strategies. “We believe that the projects being funded through this initiative have the potential to improve the lives of a significant number of Indianapolis residents facing the challenges of poverty and financial insecurity.”
Dove House’s Steps to Success program allows women to establish positive living environments that support sobriety and financial independence, eventually leading them to re-establish a sense of control over their lives. The Lilly Endowment funding for Steps to Success will expand its clinical staff and strategic partnerships including a fund to subsidize client housing, provide job training, assist with legal aid and childcare costs and expand its physical footprint. With these strategies in place, Dove House will be able to increase the number of clients served from 80 to at least 100 annually.
“While our initial goal is to provide stability to women who are in need of immediate care, the ultimate goal is a self-sufficient life of wellness and security, including a good or promising job,” said Noe. “Connecting clients to affordable housing and living wage employment is critical because housing and jobs are typically the largest barriers to life security for the women who have met all the other challenges of overcoming substance use disorder.”
In addition to struggling with the challenges of substance abuse and addiction, many women who seek help from Dove House are also escaping homelessness, coping with mental health diagnoses, re-entering society after incarceration and re-establishing parenting responsibility. All Dove House residents are below 200% poverty level.
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About Dove Recovery House: Dove Recovery House is committed to empowering women to become substance free, self-sufficient, and healthy, by providing free and safe housing, quality programming, and—above all—hope for the future. Dove House is the largest recovery residence for women in Marion County and is certified as a level IV Recovery Residence through Indiana Alliance for Recovery Residences. Dove House serves 40 women each night and more than 80 women annually. Since 2000, hundreds of women have made Dove House their home as they seek recovery from substance abuse and addiction. Learn more at doverecoveryhouse.org.
About Lilly Endowment Inc.: Lilly Endowment Inc. is a national private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family – J. K. Lilly Sr. and sons Eli and J.K. Jr. – through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Co. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. Learn more at lillyendowment.org.
