Monroe County council distributes $174K to 44 nonprofits through Sophia Travis grants
Last Tuesday, the Monroe County council awarded $174,000 in Sophia Travis Community Service Grants to 44 nonprofits. The meeting also saw discussion about awards to Planned Parenthood and charter schools, and concern about next year’s allocation, which had been cut from $250,000 to $190,000.
The big news out of last Tuesday’s (Oct. 28) meeting of the Monroe County council was the unanimous vote against the appropriation for the purchase of North Park for a new county jail.
But the council handled several other items, including the approval of this year’s allocations of $174,000 in Sophia Travis Community Service Grants. The awards this year went to 44 different nonprofits, in amounts ranging from $800 to $13,800. The biggest award went to Pantry 279.
This year’s awards pushed the total amount awarded through the program since 2008 to around $2.17 million.
In 2013, the community services grant program was renamed in honor of Sophia Travis, who served on the county council from 2004 to 2008. The resolution renaming the program says that Travis worked as a councilor to “assure the applications for the limited funds available for support would be considered in a fair, even-handed and transparent process.”
The Sophia Travis grant committee—composed of council members Jennifer Crossley, Liz Feitl, and Trent Deckard, along with community members Jenny Stevens and Julie Robertson—reviewed over 46 applications this year.
An additional $3,000 was awarded from the fund established to honor the late Cheryl Munson, who had for several years served as chair of the Sophia Travis grant committee.
Stevens, who was concluding her service on the committee, stressed the breadth of community needs. She described the need as “profound” this year especially for food assistance and shelter. She called it “a little overwhelming due to the national climate that our agencies are trying to still do their work in.”
Julie Robertson, the newest community member, said, “I was astonished at how many applicants that we had, and their presentations were astounding.”
The awards covered a wide range of services, from food security and youth programs to health initiatives and support for vulnerable populations.
Last Tuesday, the amount that was allocated for the Sophia Grant program in the 2026 budget year got some airtime from the public mic. It had originally been set for $250,000, which was a significant increase, but in the course of the council’s budget cutting process was reduced to $190,000.
About that reduction, Seth Mutchler said during public commentary that the planned increase to $250,000 “felt like a big win, but it also felt like a small drop in the bucket compared to what we’re up against.” Mutchler was disappointed that the amount got reduced to $190,000.
Mutchler was also among several who voiced support for the $3,600 award to Planned Parenthood, after Monroe County resident Scott Tibbs gave remarks from the public mic opposing the award to Planned Parenthood, because the organization provides abortion services.
Tibbs said, “I have been lobbying you for a number of years against funding for Planned Parenthood, which is America’s number one abortion provider.” About Planned Parenthood’s grant application, Tibbs said, “This is not a request for help. This is a request for a political endorsement from the county council.”
The awards to two charter schools, The Project School and Seven Oaks, drew the attention of some councilors. Peter Iversen raised concerns about public funding for charter schools, saying: “My concern is that as charter schools—and the way that Indiana approaches charter schools—they increasingly have access to state funding. So for future iterations of this, I’d want to be careful with that.”
The council’s deliberations took a familiar procedural turn, when councilor Marty Hawk moved to separate Planned Parenthood’s $3,600 grant award from the overall motion. Hawk wanted to be able to vote for “all these other wonderful projects.” She could not support the award to Planned Parenthood, because of the organization’s connection to abortion services.”
The vote on dividing the question was 6–1, with dissent from council president Jennifer Crossley. Before the vote on division of the question, Crossley said, “I can certainly understand where [Hawk] is coming from, but I do not support that.”
The motion on just the award to Planned Parenthood passed on a 6–1 with dissent from Hawk. The vote on the rest of the awards was 7–0.
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