As the Kendrick Foundation has evolved, its work has expanded beyond grantmaking and scholarships to include community leadership efforts that strengthen the conditions for health in Morgan County. Since 2019, the foundation has increasingly focused on collaboration, collective action, and policy, systems, and environmental change that help make the healthy choice the easy choice.

This work reflects the foundation’s ongoing commitment to advancing community wellbeing through partnerships, technical assistance, and evidence-informed strategies that build capacity and create lasting impact. By working alongside local organizations and community leaders, the foundation supports efforts that strengthen health across Morgan County and beyond.

The Kendrick Foundation also contributes to community and statewide collaboration through the Morgan County Service Providers Group, the Healthy Community Coalition, the School Wellness Hub, the Tobacco Free Morgan County Coalition, the Morgan County Suicide and Overdose Fatality Review Board, and board service with the Indiana Public Health Association and Indiana Philanthropy Alliance. Together, these efforts support shared learning and resources and strengthen health-focused work across Morgan County and beyond.

Through these partnerships, the Kendrick Foundation supports community health improvement efforts, aligns grantmaking with evidence-informed public health practices, and provides technical assistance to grantees and stakeholders in data, evaluation, coalition building, and related efforts.

In 2021, the Kendrick Foundation accepted the invitation to lead the Morgan County Mental Health Task Force as part of the Better Communities Coalition. Since then, the task force has grown to more than 160 individual members and nearly 70 organizations, and it continues working toward a community where all individuals are supported and equipped to achieve mental health wellbeing.

Also in 2021, the Boys & Girls Club of Morgan County recognized the Kendrick Foundation with its Partnership of the Year Award. In 2022, Youth First recognized the foundation with its Heart of Youth First Award, and the Morgan County Business Leader featured the foundation on its December cover.

Since 2022, the Kendrick Foundation has recognized individual and organizational community leaders for their efforts to improve health in Morgan County. In 2025, the foundation also began recognizing local public health heroes who support upstream efforts to improve health and wellbeing across the county. These honorees work across sectors and use their influence across the social determinants of health (SDOH) to make a positive impact on people’s health, wellbeing, and quality of life.

SDOH are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age, and they affect health outcomes and quality of life.