Listening Lunch with Kinship Caregivers Highlights $150,000 AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation Grant to The Villages

Event Centered on the Value of Hearing Directly from Families Served by the Family Connection Network

Indianapolis, Ind. — The AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation joined The Villages of Indiana, kinship caregivers, and community partners Tuesday for a listening lunch centered on the experiences of families served through The Villages’ Family Connection Network (FCN).

The gathering was also an opportunity to celebrate the Foundation’s $150,000 grant, which will help the FCN build on more than two decades of work with kinship families.

Kinship caregivers, most often grandparents but sometimes other relatives or close family friends, often step in to raise children when parents are unable to do so. The Annie E. Casey Foundation estimates 63,000 Indiana children live in kinship care.

Through the FCN, The Villages offers case management, support groups, caregiver education, respite opportunities, and connections to community resources for families facing financial, legal, and emotional challenges.

Across Marion County and surrounding central Indiana counties, the program served 118 families last year, 85% of whom live at or below the poverty line.

“When kinship caregivers and families share what they are facing, it gives us a clearer understanding of where resources can make the greatest difference,” said Lauren Maloney, director of the AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation. “Through the Family Connection Network, The Villages works alongside caregivers as they address urgent needs and care for children in their homes, and we are proud to invest in that work.”

At the listening lunch, participants reflected on the realities of stepping into care during times of crisis and the program has helped them care for children and stay connected to services and one another.

Shirley Warren, an FCN participant for about two and a half years, is raising her granddaughter on a fixed income.

“The Villages did not make me feel like I was asking for anything or begging for anything,” Warren said. “Help came at a time when I really needed to breathe.”

The grant from the AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation will help The Villages expand FCN services and support 200 kinship caregivers in 2026 with case management, support groups, emergency financial aid, respite and youth enrichment, and connections to community resources.

It will also help families meet basic needs such as housing, utilities, food, transportation, childcare and other essential expenses.

“This investment from the AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation is meaningful for the kinship families we serve,” said Shannon Schumacher, president and CEO of The Villages of Indiana. “Many step into caregiving unexpectedly during moments of crisis, and this support helps families address immediate needs like housing, food, and transportation while strengthening stability.”

The listening lunch reflected an approach already central to FCN, one shaped by ongoing caregiver voice and lived experience and grounded in working with kinship families, not for them.

Shannon Schumacher (L), The Villages President and CEO and Lauren Maloney (R), AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation Director