OCRA awards first grants in pilot to combat loneliness in rural areas
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The Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs has awarded grants to 10 communities and organizations through its Building Socially Connected Communities pilot program.
The program, which launched in May, was created to combat isolation and loneliness through projects designed to create social connections, particularly in rural Indiana communities.
The agency said the average population size of the 10 communities receiving funding is 2,757 residents. OCRA Executive Director Duke Bennett said in a news release demand for funding surpassed expectations.
“This pilot round of the Building Socially Connected Communities program had a total available funding of $200,000, and we saw a request of more than $800,000 through the application process,” Bennett said. “This kind of demand is very encouraging to see and truly emphasizes the need for a program helping enhance social connection in our rural communities.”
The grant recipients are:
- Town of Vernon – $50,000
- Town of Hope – $44,285
- Rush County Economic and Community Development Corp. – $27,000
- Merom Camp and Retreat Center – $24,500
- Brown County Art Gallery Foundation – $20,000
- Owen County Community Foundation – $14,000
- Orange County Community Gardens – $9,215
- Thriving Grant County Inc. – $5,000
- Traditional Arts Today – $5,000
- North Daviess Spanish 4 – $1,000
Bennett told Inside INdiana Business in May that the agency wanted to take a deep dive on how to better help communities increase social interaction, particularly in rural areas.
“This could be something as simple as having a book club at the local coffee shop or something at the library, an art-related thing, maybe,” he said. “It could also be some kind of a community event that you can do on a smaller scale, that people would feel comfortable with participating in, that might get them out of their house or into the community a little bit more to interact with other people that they probably don’t even know.”
OCRA said as the communities and organizations implement their projects, they will participate in a community of practice, “allowing them to share insights, strategies and best practices to maximize the impact of their initiatives.”
A virtual town hall will take place in July 2026 for the awardees to discuss the impact of their projects.