KICKING THE STIGMA ANNOUNCES 2026 ACTION GRANT RECIPIENTS

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Colts and Irsay family today announced more than $1.1 million in Kicking The Stigma Action Grants to 16 nonprofits and organizations, with impact in Indiana, who provide mental health treatment services or raise awareness about mental health.

This is the fifth year of the Action Grant program. The Irsays created the grants as a part of Kicking The Stigma, an initiative they launched in 2020 to raise awareness about and end the stigma surrounding mental health. Since then, the team has awarded $8.3 million in Action Grants in Indiana and beyond.

“Day by day and year by year, we’re seeing more attention and resources directed toward mental health and wellness, but we still have so much more work to do to end stigma and support our friends and neighbors in need,” said Kalen Jackson, Colts Owner, Chief Brand Officer & president of the Colts Foundation. “Through these grants, Kicking The Stigma is proud to continue our commitment to directly supporting the professionals and organizations who work in mental health every day.”

This year’s cycle featured two different grant opportunities:

COMMUNITY ACTION GRANT RECIPIENTS

The Community Action Grant was open to nonprofits and organizations working in mental health. Organizations applied for up to $25,000 in funding, and initiatives must align with one of five key focus areas: Behavioral Health Workforce Development, Equitable Access to Treatment & Resources, Grassroots Peer-to-Peer Programming, Awareness & Anti-Stigma Initiatives and Youth Mental Health.

Recipients in 2026 include:

• Cancer Support Community Indianapolis. This grant will support the costs associated in hiring clinical social work staff and provide them with training to enhance the mental health care they provide to cancer patients and their family members.
• Firefly Children & Family Alliance (Indianapolis). Firefly will use this funding to strengthen behavioral health workforce development and youth mental health services within the Intensive Foster Care and Family Preservation programs through expanded implementation of the Teaching-Family Model.
• Children’s TherAplay Foundation (Fishers, Ind.). The grant will support the “Stirrup Hope” program, that improves access to behavioral health services for children with disabilities.

• Indiana Health Centers Inc. (Statewide). Funds from this grant will support behavioral health workforce development for 40 physicians, 10 case managers and 15 behavioral health clinicians. The trainings they receive includes Motivational Interviewing and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy.
• IYG (Statewide). This grant will help expand IYG’s counseling program by increasing clinical capacity and allow more youth to access timely, affirming and trauma-informed mental health care at a critical point of need.
• Inspiration Ministries (Indianapolis). The grant will support Certified Peer Support staff in providing evidence-based, effective support and counseling to individuals overcoming substance use disorder.
• LifeSmart Youth (Indianapolis). The grant will support the Mental Health Essentials for Indiana Youth program, that aims to provide mental health programming, professional support and mental health specific supplies to more than 2,000 youth in the Indianapolis area.
• NAMI Indiana (Statewide). The grant will be used to support NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Health) Indiana’s statewide grassroots peer-to-peer programming and support local NAMI affiliates in bringing statewide programming to their community.
• Outreach Inc. (Zionsville, Ind.). Funds will be used to cover a portion of the costs associated with triage and creating referrals to receive care from a mental health specialist at Outreach.
• University of Evansville (Evansville, Ind.). This grant will be used to subsidize individual and family therapy sessions for clients who cannot afford the full cost. Funds will also be used to help eliminate barriers to getting help.

LEGACY ACTION GRANT RECIPIENTS

The Legacy Action Grant is an invitation-only grant awarded to organizations within the Kicking The Stigma network with the goal of creating larger-scale impact in the mental health sector.

Recipients in 2026 include:

• Boys & Girls Club of America (Statewide). For the next two years, Kicking The Stigma will support the Blue to Brighter program through this grant, benefiting ten Boys & Girls Clubs across Indiana. The program will help clubs develop and enhance trauma-informed practices and services for their members.
• Girls Inc. of Greater Indianapolis. The grant will fund the Kicking The Stigma Mind Body Matters Fellowship program for the next three years. The Mind Body Matters program will serve more than 1,000 girls across the greater Indianapolis area to equip them with tools to take charge of their behavioral health.
• Riley Children’s Foundation (Statewide). Over the next three years, this grant will support the development of two Learning Health Networks that will be made available for behavioral healthcare workers across the state. Learning Health Networks bring together patients, families, clinicians and researchers where they can access real-world data to influence how care is delivered based on evidence, lived experience and patient outcomes.

CONTINUING LEGACY ACTION GRANT RECIPIENTS 

• Brooke’s Place (Indianapolis). In the second year of this grant, Brooke’s Place will continue expanding the reach of their ongoing grief support group and grief outreach programs on the south side of Indianapolis and engage students in partnering school districts in Marion County.
• Girl Scouts of Central Indiana. Over the next year, this grant will continue to support efforts to expand their mental wellness programming, which aims to provide all scouts in summer camp programming with adequate mental wellness support and the tools to manage stress and support their peers.
• The Wellness Council of Indiana (Statewide). This grant will fund the Thrive at Work Indiana: A Statewide Mental Health Initiative over the next year with the goal to transforming workplace culture, reducing stigma and expanding access to mental health education across Indiana’s workforce.

Through the Action Grants and personal donations by the Irsays, more than $33 million has been committed to expand treatment and research and raise awareness in Indiana and beyond since 2020. Friends and fans can learn more or donate at KickingTheStigma.org.