Land, Health, Community Grant Program

Land, Health, Community Grant Program is sponsored by Lumpkin Family Foundation. The Land, Health, Community Grant Program focuses on fostering holistically healthy communities in the Chicago region. It supports projects that promote physical activity, access to healthy food, and mental wellness for youth.

Land, Health, Community Program | Lumpkin Family Foundation Land, Health, Community Program Land, Health, Community (LHC) is the Foundation’s primary and largest grantmaking program and reflects the Lumpkin family’s historic connection and commitment to the community. A minimum of 50 percent of its annual grantmaking budget is spent on projects in East Central Illinois.

Through Land, Health, Community we work toward a long-term vision of holistically healthy and connected rural communities with a strong, local food system and agricultural economy, resilient businesses, talented local workforce, mentally well and physically fit residents, engaged and collaborative leadership, with protected natural beauty to explore. LOIs and Applications are accepted online only.

Below is an informational session recording for the 2026 Land, Health, Community Program. This recording and others are available on the LFF YouTube page .

Foundation Universal Letter of Inquiry Foundation Universal Application Research shows that contact with nature is linked to increased happiness, well-being, positive emotions, social interactions, and a sense of meaning and purpose, while also reducing mental distress (source: https://www. apa. org/monitor/2020/04/nurtured-nature ).

We encourage proposals that foster connections to the natural environment to promote mental health at both the individual and community levels.

Specifically, we aim to fund programs that: Demonstrate and promote a connection between engagement with nature and positive mental health outcomes; Create opportunities for youth and young adults to disengage from technology and engage in outdoor programs and activities designed to improve their mental wellness; Support mental health practitioners by increasing opportunities for self-care or personal renewal; Provide opportunities for those impacted by trauma (i.e., foster youth) to engage in nature-based healing activities.

While the list above is not exhaustive, it is representative of our overarching belief that sustained, meaningful engagement with nature can result in positive mental health outcomes for all. Geographic Areas Interest We encourage applicants from organizations across East Central Illinois. We give preference to rural organizations and those operating in Coles and the surrounding counties.

View the map above. We are especially interested in programs or projects that connect communities. Successful proposals will represent a synergy of as many of the following aims as possible.

Promote personal health through widespread availability and consumption of healthy, affordable food; Support mental wellness through individual and community engagement with the natural environment; Grow the local agricultural economy, sustaining and creating new viable farm and farm-related businesses; Develop, promote and scale innovative green practices that add productive value to farms while protecting the land for future generations; and, Encourage community engagement and collaboration, policy development, and research around agriculture and rural development.

We encourage applicants from organizations across East Central Illinois. We give preference to rural organizations and those operating in Coles and the surrounding counties. View the map above.

We are especially interested in programs or projects that connect communities. We encourage prospective grantees to contact us to discuss their potential proposal and its possible fit with our guidelines. While we do not set limitations on our grant requests, the average size of a Land, Health, Community grant award is $30,000.

Funding levels can range between $2,500 – $50,000. We do not sponsor events or provide funding to individuals. If you would like to discuss a specific idea or possible partnership with The Foundation, feel free to contact us.

Letter of Inquiry: Interested nonprofits and fiscally sponsored projects a re invited to submit a short Letter of Inquiry (LOI) to tell us a little about your program/project. You can review the LOI questions here . Renewals: Those looking to renew an existing grant will also fill out an LOI during the submission period.

Organizations approved for possible renewal will complete and submit their prior year’s post grant report early, in alignment with the due date for the application. This will be communicated by email when the LOI is accepted. Applications Invited: If your program/project aligns with our goals, we may invite you to share more details through a full application.

Invited programs will have about one month to complete this step. You can review the application questions here . Site Visits: If your organization is invited to submit an application, you may be contacted by Foundation staff to arrange a virtual or in-person site visit to share more information as needed.

Not all applicants will receive a site visit during the application process. We may also request a site visit at a later date for grant recipients, which will be determined in partnership with each organization. Depending on the size of the award, we ask that grantees provide a short, written report at the end of the funding year.

A post grant report is an opportunity to share what worked well, and what did not, and to what degree the project accomplished its goals. The date will vary, but the majority of reports are due 11 or 12 months from approval. This will be communicated to you when your grant is awarded.

We recognize that the measurement of success (and failure) is only valuable when it is done based on the specific and context-based parameters established by our grantees. We work in tandem with them to ensure that what is measured has meaning to both their work and our overall goals as a Foundation. Your report template will be accessible through our Apply Here portal.

Please feel free to contact Foundation staff with any questions about your reporting date or details.

Please Direct Inquiries To: Grantee News: Prairie Rivers Network Honored by National Wildlife Federation Community News, Grantee News Grantee News: The RealiTea ProjecT Celebrates Juneteenth Land, Health, Community Program Announces 2026 Grantees Community News, Grantee News Grantee News: Friends of Lake Shelbyville Outdoor Experience Day LFF Celebrates Narrative Change Work LFF Grantees Team Up in New Webinar Series University of Illinois Extension (CJMM Unit) To support a 4-day cooking program to teach 45 youth ages 8-13 basic cooking techniques and nutrition knowledge, ultimately increasing their food preparation confidence and skills in the kitchen.

Continued funding for the UPD Environmental Program, focusing on wild animal and citizen science activities. Key challenges in 2025 included bus transportation limitations for field trips, prompting a shift towards in-class environmental education and planned community events.

United Way Decatur and Mid-Illinois Funding for The Farm at 3080, aimed at creating a small-scale farm for agricultural education and hands-on learning opportunities for students through internships, ultimately promoting civic engagement and wellness through agricultural and outdoor experiences and increased community food access.

Taylorville Memorial Hospital Foundation For the creation of a walking path near the Taylorville hospital campus to promote physical activity, reduce stress, and improve community health in Christian County.

Piatt County Mental Health Center For the Community Day Service Classroom Project to renovate existing spaces into offices and classrooms to create person-centered care services for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities over 50 adults daily across Piatt, Champaign, Douglas, Macon, and DeWitt counties.

Public News Service (Fiscal Sponsor: Lexington Observer) To continue the "Rural Health and Connectedness Reporting" project by Illinois News Connection (INC), focused on addressing rural information gaps by highlighting underreported stories about health services, resources, and community news. In 2025, the project successfully reached over a million Illinois audience members across 26 news outlets. 1632 Broadway Avenue, Suite 201