Stark Community Foundation

The mission of Stark Community Foundation is to connect people and the charitable causes which are important to them.

As a community foundation, our vision is to honor the wishes of our donors by managing their charitable gifts and helping them meet their individual goals for giving. We dedicate our work in response to local needs and challenges through carefully designed funds and programs.

As we achieve our mission and vision, we continue to strengthen Stark County, providing an improved quality of life for the residents of our community.

Focus Areas

We believe that there are three essential ingredients to a healthy and vibrant community: economic development, education, and strong neighborhoods. Our major focus areas concentrate our attention on these essential ingredients.

Economic Development
Economic development serves as the catalyst for addressing the root cause of social problems within communities. Successful economic development programs and policies will create an infrastructure of facilities, a trained workforce, and collaboration between the private sector (business), the public sector (government), and the civic sector (foundations and non- profits). When these elements come together, jobs are created, the family unit is strengthened, and neighborhoods are revitalized. It is a “virtuous circle” that improves the quality of life of all our residents.

Education
Education is the backbone of economic development. Education creates the skills that are necessary to prepare individuals for employment opportunities and the ability to sustain themselves and their families. As individuals, we remain competitive and vibrant as we learn new skills and gather new knowledge. Education must begin at an early age and continue throughout a lifetime of learning.

Neighborhood Revitalization
At the heart of the community is the neighborhood. Vibrant neighborhoods are central to creating and maintaining homes and relationships that are sources of pride around a common purpose. Community pride and a sense of accomplishment create a shared experience that moves a community forward to achieve greater and greater accomplishments. Our intent is to provide the foundation of skills and programs needed to transform our neighborhoods into better places to live, learn, work, play, and raise families.