Frank and Linda Reich’s kNot Today becomes force for abuse prevention with over $1 million in funding

In 2019, four years before former NFL quarterback and Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich headed to North Carolina to coach the Carolina Panthers, he and his wife Linda dreamt of funding and providing therapy and counseling to child exploitation victims. Indiana’s geographic location and the high need for services made logical sense to everyone. But it wasn’t long before the Reichs and their charity, kNot Today, recognized they could fund dozens of other measures that could tackle tough challenges.

 “We spent a year learning and realized there was a huge gap,” says Emma Marsh, Director of the kNot Today Foundation. “A lot of people were providing restorative services with federal funding, but a lot of groups were trying to start prevention education with almost no funding.”

In 2019, Indiana was a year into SB 355, a bill supported by the Indiana Chapter and championed by SWICACC Director Tammy Lampert to require age-appropriate and evidence-based prevention education for all K-12 schools, including private and charter schools. The unfunded mandate, however, was a clear barrier for schools and one many organizations, including CACs, were attempting to resolve by offering to teach lessons at little or no cost.

Two years after the founding of kNot Today, Chapter Director Jan Lutz and Board President Emily Perry spoke to kNot Today staff about the need for robust Prevention Education funding. Soon after their initial discussion, new grants empowered tens of thousands of Hoosier kids with the vocabulary, skills, and wherewithal to disclose abuse against themselves or friends.

Over $1 million awarded in grants to CACs and other organizations

kNot Today surpassed $1 million in funding to numerous organizations all working to prevent and respond to crimes against kids in 2024. A milestone Marsh says was years in the making. “Our intention every year is to increase funding for organizations. We have been incredibly blessed to be in a position to do that because not everyone can,” she says.

Mash explains kNot Today is a public charity. Each year, the charity awards two basic kinds of grants:

  1. A child protection grant, which covers restorative services and strategies for protecting kids against abuse and,
  2. A prevention education grant, which covers the costs of time, materials, and curriculum for Indiana K-12 evidence-based child abuse prevention programs.

“We’ve awarded about $726,000 toward our child protection grant since 2019. This grant has funded law enforcement agencies with new technology, training, and therapy for survivors of abuse or extortion,” says Marsh. kNot Today has helped purchase or fund training for electronic-sniffing K9 dogs in Oregon, California, Wisconsin, Georgia, and two in North Carolina. Three are working in Indiana, and a fourth set will start in Bloomington soon. “It’s the founder’s ultimate vision to fund efforts in every NFL city,” notes Marsh.

kNot Today has also embraced new evidence-based models for care, including funding therapeutic films for survivors and Handle with Care, a collaboration between law enforcement agencies and local schools to ensure school staff is aware a severe trauma has occurred without sacrificing the child’s privacy. 

The prevention education grant has surpassed $426,000 in awards, most of which for Indiana CACs. This has funded thousands of hours of evidence-based curriculums, handouts, materials, projectors, and other necessary supplies to conduct a robust session with Hoosier kids.

As world-changing as kNot Today’s funding has been, the scale of the task in states like Indiana is immense. “We’re working to advocate for funding attached to the existing education mandate to make them more sustainable,” says Marsh.

“We’re grateful to the CACs and all they do,” says Marsh. I tell every CAC: it is an honor to support them, and we see ourselves as an extension of their team.”

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