How the Harrington family is repairing the community through safe and affordable housing, basic needs

Longtime philanthropists in the community and with United Way, Judy and Michael Harrington donated $1.5 million in late 2024. Their gift will total $3 million, thanks to a match from the Lilly Foundation. (United Way of Central Indiana photos)

Tikkun olam. Repairing the world.  

The Jewish teaching motivates Judy and Michael Harrington.  

When they see people suffering because they don’t have safe and affordable housing, when they see people struggling because of a lack of access to basic needs – those are parts of the world that need to be repaired.  

“It aligns very much with our values,” Michael Harrington said.  

The Harringtons are longtime philanthropists in the community and with United Way of Central Indiana. In late 2024, the Harrington family donated $1.5 million to United Way, a gift that will go toward the nonprofit’s work in the areas of safe and affordable housing and basic needs. 

The Harringtons’ gift will total $3 million, thanks to a one-to-one match from the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation (Lilly Foundation) for eligible donations from Lilly employees and retirees. The Lilly Foundation is a tax-exempt, private foundation supported by donations from Eli Lilly and Company. 

Michael Harrington spent his career at Eli Lilly and Company for nearly 30 years, retiring in 2020 as senior vice president and general counsel. He is also a former chairman of United Way’s Tocqueville Society and a former member of the Board of Directors.   

The Harringtons’ connection to United Way began with Lilly. The company and its leadership have been philanthropic leaders in the community for decades, and the people Michael Harrington worked with and admired were role models for philanthropy, he said.  

Harrington said United Way brings organizations together to work collaboratively and measures outcomes, ensuring that investments have the greatest impact they can in the community. 

“As we’ve learned more and as we’ve had the resources, we’ve been able to increase our philanthropy – and we’ve found that very rewarding to give back to the community,” he said. 

Judy Harrington said she thinks about the teaching of tikkun olam – repairing the world – and their synagogue, Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation.  

“That goes hand in hand with this kind of work,” she said.  

The Harringtons have contributed to United Way’s basic needs initiatives for several years. They continue to be struck by the disparities in the community between people of means and those experiencing poverty, Michael Harrington said.  

“United Way is focused on distancing 10,000 families from poverty,” he said, referencing the goal United Way set in its five-year strategic plan in 2023. “We think basic needs is really the most direct lever to do that.” 

“That's the goal that United Way has, and we’re happy to try to help make that happen.” 

In designating part of their gift toward safe and affordable housing initiatives, Harrington said his family views housing as essential to moving people away from poverty. If families don’t have stable housing, they don’t have stable access to education, employment or transportation, he said. And when families are evicted or displaced, that can exacerbate existing issues such as substance abuse or domestic violence, he said.  

“If we can improve access to safe and affordable housing in Central Indiana, that will enable so many other good things to take place.”  

In making their gift, the Harringtons included in the decision-making their three adult children, all of whom have witnessed firsthand the impacts of poverty and lack of safe and affordable housing in their communities.  

Their daughter is a social worker in San Francisco, one son is a Marion County public defender, and the other works for a social services agency in Detroit.  

“Each of them, in their own way, touches the issues of housing, and they’ve shared with us that they think that’s of critical importance, and we share their view,” Michael Harrington said. “We’ve included them in our conversations in each stage as we’ve put the project together.” 

Their children also educated them on the topic because of their work, Judy Harrington added: “We learned from them on some of the big pitfalls that their clients are experiencing, and that helped us communicate with United Way.” 

Judy Harrington moved from her native Michigan to Indianapolis for nursing school in the mid-1980s, and the couple chose to raise their family here. She worked as a labor and delivery nurse for a decade before raising the children. The family also values volunteerism, with the Indiana Canine Assistant Network holding special meaning: “Our children were all involved in different ways in that program, and it brought us all closer together,” she said.  

Asked to describe themselves, the Harringtons said they are good listeners and problem solvers who are creative and take a long-term approach to solving community challenges. “It’s not going to be solved overnight,” Michael Harrington said.  

With their gift, the Harringtons want to see families distanced from poverty, innovations in housing and fewer families evicted.  

“That eviction on peoples’ background makes it harder to get housing, harder to get jobs, harder to get credit,” Michael Harrington said.  

They hope data from these initiatives can be used with other funders to expand programs and give more people housing access.  

Michael Harrington encouraged other donors to work with United Way to customize their gifts to suit their passions.  

“Articulate what you want to accomplish because they are so very good at combining organizations and causing people to collaborate” he said. “If you can articulate what you want to accomplish, the folks at the United Way can find a way to make that happen.”