Roots to Rise: Community Catalyst Grants

Project Funding Priorities: 

Healthy food retail: (funds used for refrigeration/shelving, store incentives, mobile market or farmers market staff or adding mobile market stops, training, signage, staff time to connect with local food sources or support SNAP applications, Fresh Bucks onboarding, etc.)

Urban farms/gardens: funds used for farming or gardening equipment and supplies, water hookups, farmer training, costs of transportation of local food to community sites, (added during workgroup discussion: supporting local growers in growing/refrigeration/transportation needs to supply local produce to pantries, etc.)

Funding Priorities

  • Low food access- utilizing asset mapping (proximity to grocery stores)

  • Low income communities

  • BIPOC communities

  • Immigrant, refugee or asylee communities

  • High risk communities (public heath) 

  • Growers: BIPOC, Veterans, Women & Gender Non Confirming

Round 1: Food Retailers

Application Details — CLOSED

Round 1 Grant recipients:

  • Mobile Community Grocery

  • Bodi Buzz Urban Farm

  • Helpings of Hope

  • Cleo’s Bodega

  • Garcia’s Gardens

  • Masagana Farm

  • Helping Hands Norwood Garden

  • Harmonie Hearts Community Service

  • Mae’s Paige Garden

100% of on-time and complete applications received funding.

Round 2: Non-profit growers

Application details- Round 2: CLOSED

Grower Micro-Grants ($25,000 available):

  • Who Can Apply: For community gardens, co-ops, and farms that grow food outside of a for-profit model. Indianapolis has a vast and active network of these spaces — people growing food for their neighbors, not for profit.

  • Grant Amount: Up to $1,000 per applicant

  • Eligible Uses: Equipment for season extension, cleaning stations, lighting, rain barrels, and more, so the communities they serve can continue to benefit from what they grow.

  • Applications window: June 26 - July 31st 11:59 pm EST

  • Do not use AI to complete your application. We are seeking honest and individualized answers to our questions. You will not be judged on grammar. We are seeking intentions and impacts. Not how well you answer a question. If you need support in completing the application, please let us know and we'll work with you. 

Round 3: Water Access/ Cistern program

Applications: Round 3 August 2026 - Cistern Grants: Many small-scale farmers across Indianapolis and Marion County struggle to get sufficient water to their growing sites. Cistern installation offers a more affordable path to a reliable water supply — enabling more local growers to participate in the food ecosystem and improving fresh food access for residents across the city.

Budget and application timeline will be announced.

 
 

Round 2 and 3 of Community Catalyst Grants supported by funding from: