2016 – 2024 Giving Summary

  • Wellness & Elderly – 33%
  • Housing & Homelessness – 15%
  • Veterans & Police – 5%
  • Women, Infants and Children – 22%
  • Youth Learning – 25%

Our funding priority includes the causes and programs that our family members and Briljent employees are interested in.  We are geographically dispersed.  So, though much of our funding happens in Indiana and Illinois where most of us live, it is national in scope.  We support programs that help people.  Though most of our giving is to various social service, education and health programs, we occasionally support art and creativity.  We steer clear of faith-based organizations; we leave that giving to each individual in our family through their personal donor advised funds.

Kathy Carrier, kcarrier@briljent.com, (260) 403-6746

2023 Giving Summary

In 2023 the Luminous Fund donated to these programs:

  • Wellness & Elderly – 39%
  • Housing & Homelessness – 5%
  • Veterans & Police – 4%
  • Women, Infants, & Children – 22%

What We’ve Funded in the Past Few Years

Founded in 1981, All Stars Project (ASP) is a 501(c)3 national nonprofit that uses a performance based approach to help tens of thousands of inner-city youth and their families create success in their lives. We create free, outside of school programs for inner-city youth and their families, which help them to develop using performance as a tool on stage and in life. Through the developmental power of performance, we transform the lives of youth from poor and underserved communities in partnership with caring adults, giving everyone the opportunity to grow. Our programs, which will be returning to an in-person format this Fall, include talent shows, one-on-one coaching between business leaders and young people, and a professional training and development program called the Development School for Youth which includes a paid internship.
The Memorial Swinging Bridge was dedicated to “soldiers and sailors” from Pulaski County on July 4, 1923. It will reach its centenary anniversary in July 2023. That it is a memorial to veterans has been forgotten over the years. Most members of the public are familiar with the bridge, but not of the honor bestowed upon it.
Our mission is to illuminate this bridge, our County’s legacy, to honor Pulaski County residents who served in the United States military. This grant from the Luminous Fund will help Light Up Our Legacy.
Friends of the Rivers mission is to elevate the value and importance of Fort Wayne’s three rivers—the St. Joseph, St. Marys, and Maumee.
Youtheatre has Educated, Engaged and Entertained area youth and families since 1934, through productions, classes, camps and education outreach. Fort Wayne Youtheatre offers complete theatre education to children, ages 3-18.
Lexi’s Voice is a nonprofit that provides free animal therapy services specifically designed to support young people who have experienced abuse and/or neglect, and to help empower other youth that have not been identified. Through our Farm Therapy programming, we help these vulnerable youth build emotional connections, develop their self-confidence, find comfort, and, ultimately, achieve wellness.
The Emily Settle Fund was established September 2021 to honor the life of our daughter Emily. Our mission is to provide travel assistance (gas, hotel, food, living expenses) to young adults (20 – 39 year olds) with cancer. With the generous donations from the Luminous Fund, we were able to partner with the Indiana chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to create the Emily Settle Travel fund this past February. Applicants within Central Indiana (Marion and surrounding Counties) can apply for (2) $500 grants in a calendar year for travel grants. In addition, Emily Settle Fund board is working with Riley Hospital to grant monies to the Oncology/Stem Cell unit with goal to support adolescent young adults with their day to day needs will being hospitalized. The dream of carrying on Emily’s legacy could not have been realized without the generous donations from the Luminous Fund. Together we are making a difference!
Paws and Think is an Indianapolis-based organization with a mission to improve lives through the power of the human-dog connection.  Our grant will expand the Paws to Read Program for children aged 6 – 12.  This program helps children gain confidence, improve reading and communication skills and develop a love of reading. 
CASS Housing creates and maintains Customizable, Affordable, Sustainable, and Safe living arrangements for individuals with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities that promote independent living skills.  We were formed in 2015 to answer the question being asked by parents, “What is going to happen to my child when I’m no longer able to care for them or pass away?”  We partner with Core Members (residents) and their families to co-create the best possible long-term housing and support solution that meets the needs of every Core Member and each home.   With funding from the Luminous Foundation, we are welcoming six new Core Members into their new homes where they are learning to live in a whole new way that brings them joy, brings their family a sense of long-term security, and gives them the opportunity to make their future their own.
Child Advocates engages community volunteers and staff in Indianapolis to protect children who are victims of child abuse.  Luminous is providing partial support of the Wishing Well Fund which will provide financial assistance to meet the basic needs of abused and neglected children.

Happy Hollow Children’s Camp provides overnight camping activities, at their 900-acre Brown County camp, with major emphasis on children who are economically disadvantaged, have severe to moderate asthma, or are members of educational groups. Since 1951, over 40,000 economically disadvantaged children have attend Happy Hollow Children’s Camp. Happy Hollow offers several weekly summer camp programs for children from Indianapolis area. 95% of the children, who attend Happy Hollow, live in poverty. For over seventy years, Happy Hollow Children’s Camp has provided disadvantaged children an opportunity to spend a week away from the city in an exciting and educational Brown County summer camp experience. Their mission is creating outdoor learning experiences that inspire Indiana youth to reach their full potential as active, responsible and caring members of our community. For more information on Happy Hollow Children’s Camp, please call (317) 638-3849 or visit www.happyhollowcamp.net
Please visit the video link https://tinyurl.com/HappyHollowWelcomes You to learn more about our programs. The grant from The Luminous Fund supported our 2021 summer camp program.

Super Shot, Inc. is a local Fort Wayne non-profit that promotes vaccination and provides access to immunizations community-wide. Since 1993, Super Shot has been breaking down the barriers of vaccinations – access and cost – and increasing awareness of the importance of vaccination. The Luminous Fund grant will help protect over 72,000 Allen County residents against vaccine-preventable diseases in 2021.

Building on over 30 years of experience, the National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) unrelentingly invests in, mobilizes, and unites the brain tumor community to discover a cure, deliver effective treatments, and advocate for patients and care partners. The Luminous Fund supports our Connections Program, which provides assistance to individual patients while advancing connection and care for the entire brain tumor community. Acting on our value of “patients first,” the Connections Program supports, educates, and empowers patients and care partners by providing the knowledge, tools, relationships, and key questions needed to navigate their diagnoses.
The Starke County Youth Club, Inc. is a nonprofit that exists to support children and families. We accomplish this mission through strong interpersonal relationships during afterschool, summer, and enrichment programs. Afterschool programs are the perfect space for learning and personal growth, while providing safety and security. Support from the Luminous Fund directly supports cultural experiences at programs across Starke County. We provide hundreds of hours of exploration and understanding. The lessons in this center are built to be interactive, real world relatable, and fun. Using the arts, dance, food, and sports allows our young people to feel the traditions, the creativity, and the joy of other cultures. This center brings a focus to our universal humanity and our wonderful differences.
The Mom of an Addict exists to provide education and support to families who have been affected by a loved one’s substance use disorder. We are grateful for The Luminous Fund’s support in helping us reach more families in the Allen County and surrounding areas. This support will provide items needed to start new meetings, like facilitator’s guides, signage, flyers and other marketing materials. In addition, the funding will offset expenses tied to keeping our website updated with new meeting locations and participating in community events. We thank The Luminous Fund for helping us spread hope!
Genesys Works’ mission is to provide pathways to career success for high school students in underserved communities through skills training, meaningful work experiences, and impactful relationships. Support from the Luminous Fund directly supports our College Career Connections course. In addition to their paid, professional internship, students in our program receive an additional 60 hours of college and career readiness training. This bi-weekly class coaches students through the college application and financial aid process, college selection process, and tactics to manage their first year on campus – ensuring students have the tools and resources necessary to be accepted and enroll in college.
Children’s Autism Center is dedicated to compassionately supporting children affected by autism and their families.  We work closely with families to ensure that the skills we teach are life changing and meaningful to the family. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality treatment possible through a culture of continuous learning and mentality of always doing better.
Children’s Bureau’s mission is to preserve families and protect the future of Indiana’s children. Guided by the belief that every child should have a healthy family, our organization has been practicing compassion and understanding, free from judgment, for more than 169 years. The generous grant from The Luminous Fund is providing much needed emergency aid and enhanced services for the 2,000+ children we serve in foster and adoptive homes across the state
Blue Jacket’s mission is to provide training and opportunities to anyone with a barrier who is striving to earn gainful employment.
We envision that anyone with a barrier to employment will be restored with hope and provided capacity to obtain and retain employment because of Blue Jacket’s vast network and resources of support.
As an expression of Englewood Christian Church, the mission of DayStar Childcare and DayStar Infant Learning Center is to provide a safe, loving, developmentally appropriate environment for children of diverse backgrounds throughout the greater Indianapolis area.   The funds granted to us from the Luminous Fund will go to provide backpacks for each classroom. These backpacks will be full of educational nature supplies and tools for the purpose of encouraging children of Daystar in the exploration of the natural world. The backpacks will encourage and allow children to feel the sense of wonder and joy that is to be found when one engages with nature. They will be used on the outdoor properties surrounding Daystar particularly in our Nature Playspace and Garden area.
We donated to the 2017 Camp Good Grief, a transformational weekend camp to promote healing for grieving kids. We have been committed to this agency for two decades in memory of Leighann Palmer.
Females in Technology offers a variety of activities and events designed to help women explore the many options available to them. The Luminous Fund is helping Females in Technology pursue professional development to support the growth of women in S.T.E.M careers.
First Tee Greater Chicago strives to impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build character, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf.  Through the generosity of individuals and organizations such as the Luminous Fund, First Tee is able to introduce this life-long game, and its inherent values, to numerous families who may not otherwise have the opportunity or access.

GiveHear builds the self-worth of individuals by restoring their hearing potential. Funds from our grant will be used to help expand their clinic from three days per week to five. This includes clinic expenses such as hearing aids and ear molds for children who have impaired hearing.
Hope Healthcare Services contributes to the health and spiritual wellbeing of those in need. 
Kesem is the leading national nonprofit that supports children affected by parental cancer. Founded in 2000, Kesem’s community of more than 5,000 volunteer college student leaders at more than 130 college campus chapters across the country provide year-round programs and services to support these children ages 6-18 at no cost to families. Its flagship program, Camp Kesem, is a week-long, sleep-away summer camp. At camp, kids have fun and build connections with each other and counselors who understand and are trained to support their needs. Beyond camp, year-round services such as care packages, personalized greetings, birthday cards, local gatherings, and affinity groups provide a continuum of touchpoints for campers and their families outside of camp.
With the grant from The Luminous Fund, NeighborLink will help vulnerable (disabled, elderly and low-income families with children) homeowners continue to live independently. Our grant will fund home repair and maintenance project requests in the Fort Wayne area.
Providing warmth and food to the homeless in Indianapolis is the focus of this new agency. We supported several strategies for this start-up organization.
Outreach believes that true transformation occurs in the context of relationships. Building relationships help youth transform their perceptions of themselves so they can make use of opportunities available to them. By connecting youth to services and building relationships, youth increase their social, emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual health and capacities, propelling youth towards stability and life transformation.It is because of the generosity of partners like The Luminous Fund, that Outreach continues to bring hope and provide a support network for youth and young adults who are experiencing homelessness by partnering with a variety of service providers to ensure that clients’ needs are met. Outreach uses a holistic approach including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual development to help youth develop skills in all aspects of life to in turn promote self-sustainability.
The mission of Place of Grace is to provide a Christian based therapeutic home with long-term recovery services to help women break their cycle of destructive behavior related to addiction, abuse, and poverty. The primary focus of the program is on assisting women who are exiting incarceration and reentering the community. Programming is provided at the house that encourages spiritual growth, life skills, and recovery skills. Financial Support from the Luminous Fund is being used to purchase program supplies and provide training for staff members in order to improve programs at Place of Grace.
The Hive is a ladies’ giving circle for Starke County, established through the Starke County Community Foundation. Members’s contributions are pooled together to give annual grants to Starke County charitable projects. Our donation will be split between The Hive 2019 grant cycle and The Hive Giving Circle Endowment Fund.
The Lilly center for Lakes & Streams, makes the lakes and streams of Kosciusko County clean, healthy, safe and beautiful through applied research, engaging education and intentional collaboration. The Center is actively collaborating with volunteers at Bass Lake, located in Starke County. This grant will allow the Center to acquire additional equipment for lake algae testing.

The League is celebrating 70 years of impact in our community as it serves more than 2700 people every year, providing and promoting opportunities that empower people of all ages with all types of disabilities to achieve their potential. The Luminous Fund is an integral partner this year in The League’s Youth Services program, and thanks to its support, we are able to help youth ages 3 to 24 achieve their potential to leading their best life as independently as possible. The skills and tools youth in this program are able to obtain include self-advocacy, educational & systems advocacy support, adult transition services, peer support, and participation in inclusive community activities.

Serving the homeless in Chicago, we funded housing, healthcare and human connection for the homeless in Chicago. One of our Briljent ambassadors, Benita Sinnarajah is involved with this agency and several others with a passion and talent for the homeless. She is a rock star.
We funded signage for a planned route for this amazing bike trail. PTC is a new 501(c) 3 that supports a 9-mile bike trail in Starke County.