Indiana Youth Institute (IYI) Grant Awarded To McMillen Health
FORT WAYNE, IND., April 24th, 2026 - Indiana Youth Institute (IYI) has awarded McMillen Health a grant totaling $500,000. The funding will help McMillen Health strengthen programs serving young people in Northeast Indiana and build the organizational capacity needed to deepen its impact over the next several years.
IYI made the grants in connection with Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana (SYPI), an initiative Lilly Endowment Inc. launched in 2023. The initiative seeks to help youth-serving organizations working throughout the state improve their abilities to promote the academic, physical, and social well-being of young people, ages five through 18.
With this support, McMillen Health will continue to support positions originally created through the Lilly Endowment grant, including four health educators and the Director of Development & Marketing, while the organization continues to diversify and strengthen revenue streams to sustain these positions and its programs over the long term. The work is expected to help the organization expand access to preventive health education for students throughout Northeast Indiana.
“This funding is a tremendous opportunity for McMillen Health and the communities we serve,” said Taylor Yoder, Executive Director of McMillen Health. “We are incredibly grateful to the Indiana Youth Institute for recognizing the importance of preventive health education and investing in our ability to continue this work. This support allows us to maintain our capacity to reach students while we continue building sustainable revenue streams for the future.”
Over the three-year grant period, McMillen Health anticipates that its four health educators will provide preventive health education to approximately 42,000 students through 1,800 sessions across Northeast Indiana. The organization will measure student learning through pre- and post-assessments, with a goal of increasing student knowledge by 35% or more among participating students.
McMillen Health is one of 168 youth-serving organizations awarded SYPI grants totaling more than $40 million. A full list of grant recipients is available here.
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About Indiana Youth Institute
Indiana Youth Institute’s mission is to improve the lives of all Indiana children by strengthening and connecting the people, organizations, and communities that are focused on kids and youth. IYI is Indiana’s premier source for high-quality data on child well-being and data-informed action to address challenges Hoosier children face. It leads the FIVE by 50 vision as a connector and convenor to ensure that every child will have a network of five caring, supportive adults in their life by the year 2050. Visit iyi.org to learn more.
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. 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. Although the Endowment maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana, it funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion.