WARSAW – Beginning Thursday, July 11, the Kosciusko County Community Foundation will host eleven “Hometown Chats” in communities throughout the county.

The purpose of the chats is for the Community Foundation to hear from residents in each town about what the needs are in their communities. The chats will help inform the Community Foundation’s grantmaking and the initiatives they pursue in the future, according to a news release from the foundation.

The Community Foundation was awarded a planning grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., as part of the endowment’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow VII initiative. The planning grant enables the Community Foundation to deepen its understanding of issues related to housing, childcare, workforce development and more.

The foundation’s headquarters are at the corner of Buffalo and Market streets in Warsaw. The first in a series of hometown chats will be Thursday night at the foundation’s office. Other meetings will be held in various towns.

The first chat will be in Warsaw at the Community Foundation office, 102 E. Market St., Warsaw at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 11.

“We are grateful to Lilly Endowment Inc. for the opportunity to dive deeply into the issues we hear the most about from community leaders and nonprofit partners,” said Community Foundation CEO Suzie Light. “We want to hear from residents about how these issues, and other issues, are affecting them. We want to learn about the hopes and dreams our citizens have for their communities.”

The Community Foundation will post Hometown Chat meeting dates, times and locations on their website at www.kcfoundation.org/hometown-chat. Refreshments will be provided. A supervised children’s activity will also be provided onsite to enable families to attend. Registration is not required but is appreciated. Register by calling (574) 267-1901 or at www.kcfoundation.org/rsvp.

Other meetings include:

6 p.m. July 17 at the Pierceton Community Building, 105 W. Walnut St., Pierceton.

6 p.m. July 18 at Syracuse Community Center, 1013 N. Long Drive, Syracuse.

6 p.m  July 23 at North Webster Community Center, 301 N. Main St., North Webster.

6 p.m. July 30 at Silver Lake Lions Club, 108 N. Harrison St., Silver Lake.

6 p.m. Aug. 8 at Milford Community Building, 111 S. Main St., Milford.

6 p.m. Aug. 14 at the Mentone Town Hall, 201 W. Main St., Mentone.

Details on other meetings in Etna Green, Leesburg and Claypool have not been announced.