Council names Community Service Grant Program for founder Sophia Travis

A county-wide program will now bear the name of its founder, a beloved community member who died last year.

On Sept. 10, the Monroe County Council voted unanimously to rename its Community Service Grant Program in memory of one of its founders, Sophia Travis, who died unexpectedly of a heart condition in September 2012.

The motion was passed with the help of moving comments by Travis’s husband, Gregory Travis.

Sophia Travis helped establish the program in 2008 to “set aside money to address community service needs,” Monroe County Council Member Rick Dietz said. “It has been providing support for the community since that time.”

Travis was well known by members of the Monroe County community, Dietz said, and is remembered as one who took interest in the well-being of the
community.

Dietz remembers her as one who was involved with philanthropy and education.

“The program was named after her because of the impact she had on our
community, which spans government, social service, arts and music,” Dietz said.

Travis was a musician, growing up playing piano and eventually playing accordion in a number of local bands. She also served as president of the IU Asian Alumni Association and routinely wrote for a local biweekly journal, the Bloomington Alternative.

She founded the Monroe County Commission on the Status of Women and fundraised for Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, a local food pantry. She also served as treasurer for Your Art Here, a Bloomington organization that aims to post local artwork in public places to engage locals.

“All of those things were an active part of her life,” Dietz said. “The fact that she established the program was the least of the reasons to name it after her.”

Shortly before her death, she won the County Council’s Democratic primary. Travis had been involved with the County Council since 2004.

“She was definitely the most fitting person for that because of the great things she did during her life,” Dietz said.

— Jacob Witte