2025 Fall Grantees

Emily Prince • January 9, 2026

Fall 2025 Grant Awards, Totaling Over $243,000  

The Athens County Foundation (ACF) is delighted to announce the recipients of its Fall 2025 Grant Awards, representing a significant investment in the thriving community of Athens County. The Foundation, in collaboration with donor advised funds and an increased spending policy, has allocated over $243,000 to support a diverse spectrum of initiatives, showcasing the Foundation's mission to build on the strengths of our community. 

 

The ACF Fall 2025 Grant Awards are:  

  • ACENet Inc. Empower Athens: Supporting Underserved Entrepreneurs 
  • Circle Round the Square  Intern Leadership Program 
  • Athens Area Mediation Service  Expanding capacity and increasing services provided 
  • Athens County Food Pantry  Athens County Food Pantry Supplies & Pet Food Pantry 
  • Southeast Ohio History Center  History and Home Arts at the Southeast Ohio History Center & Color and Sound 
  • Athens Ohio Roller Derby  Support for Bout Rental at the Athens Community Center 
  • City of Nelsonville  Nelson Commons Fencing Project 
  • Community Food Initiatives  2026 Veggie Van Mobile Market Season 
  • Dairy Barn Southeastern Ohio Cultural Arts Center, Inc  Summer Art Camp & Front-Door Accessible Entry Button & Automatic Door Mechanism 
  • Factory Street Dance Studio  Moving at Any Age 
  • Federal Valley Resource Center, Inc.  Acoustic and Lighting Improvements to Community Room   
  • Glouster Revitalization Organization (GRO)  Knights of Pythias Project - Covelle Community Center - Capacity Building Short Term Needs 
  • Habitat For Humanity of Southeast Ohio  2025-26 Senior Essential Home Repairs, The Plains build, and Essential Tool Purchase 
  • The Plains United Methodist Church  Helping Hands Food Pantry Support 
  • National Alliance on Mental Illness of Athens County  Soup and Support- Community Wellness During Winter Months 
  • Nelsonville-York City Schools  Sensory Stimulation Equipment 
  • Ohio University Foundation  Cat Camp  
  • Ohio Valley Museum of Discovery  2025/2026 Field Trip Support   
  • Ohio Valley School of Celtic Dance and Culture  Universal Design for Learning Curriculum & Materials Project 
  • OhioHealth Foundation  Discovery Kitchen Classes for Seniors in Athens County 
  • Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio  Ensuring stable and affordable access to sexual and reproductive health care for Athens County patients 
  • Rural Action  Committing to Accessibility (CTA) 
  • Southeast Ohio Center for Independent Living  COMCorps: Health and Wellness 
  • Rising Suns Pharmacy  Shelving for New Location 
  • Southeast Ohio Hope Center  Recovery Together Activities with collaboration with NAMI Athens 
  • Tenderfoot Fair Trade Learning Lab  Sustainable Living Workshops & Outreach 
  • The Athens Village, Inc.  Transitional Health Care 
  • Trimble Local Textbook & Supplies Foundation  Supporting Student Learning Through Expanded Science Resources 
  • United Campus Ministry-Center for Spiritual Growth & Social Justice Pride Programming 
  • United Seniors of Athens County  Enhancing Athens County Cares Division 
  • Women for Recovery  Recovery Supports: Yoga, Acupuncture/ Qigong, and Conflict Resolution Training 

 

The Fall 2025 grant cycle saw an overwhelming response, with total requests reaching over $500,000. In response, ACF increased its spending policy to help meet the extraordinary demand and advance critical community priorities. ACF acknowledges the tremendous support from donor advised funds, whose participation has played a pivotal role in enabling the Foundation to fund more projects than it could accomplish alone. This collaborative effort reflects the power of community-driven philanthropy and the collective commitment to making a positive impact on Athens County. 

 

ACF expresses deep gratitude to the community for its unwavering support. Whether through financial contributions, volunteerism, or working tirelessly for local nonprofits, countless individuals in Athens County have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to building a stronger and more vibrant community. 

 

“We are grateful for the trust our donors and nonprofit partners place in the Athens County Foundation,” said Kerry Pigman, Executive Director. “When we come together to support one another and build on the strengths of our community, we create lasting impact for Athens County.” 

 

As the Athens County Foundation looks ahead, it remains devoted to advancing positive change, supporting local initiatives, and collaborating with community members to build a thriving and resilient future. 

Pull up a Chair: September Newsletter

By Emily Prince • September 17, 2026
After the Storm: What Community Resilience Looks Like

Stacy Strauss is ACF's new Director of Finance and Administration

By Emily Prince • September 1, 2026
Please join us in welcoming our new Director of Finance and Administration, Stacy Strauss. Stacy looks forward to using her skills to strengthen our community! She brings energy, creativity, and a thoughtful approach to her work, along with a genuine ability to bring people together around shared goals. Her experience spans financial management, fundraising and grant writing, program development, business strategy, and developing materials that tell a clear, compelling story.  Just as importantly, she enjoys helping others grow. She has experience leading and training teams, building collaborative cultures, developing recruitment strategies, and finding practical, creative solutions to complicated challenges. Whether working with colleagues, community partners, or other stakeholders, she builds relationships rooted in trust, communication, and a shared commitment to advancing good ideas.

Fall Grant Applications Open

By Shayne Lopez • August 28, 2026
Athens County's greatest asset is its people. Every day, neighbors, organizations, and local leaders bring skill, creativity, and deep knowledge of this place to the work of building a stronger community. Our grantmaking invests in those strengths, because the best solutions are already growing here, led by the people who call Athens County home. Our grantmaking builds on the strengths already here by investing in the initiatives, people and organizations, relationships, skills, and ideas working to address longstanding challenges and pursue extraordinary opportunities. The deadline for applications for the Senior Fund has been extended to October 18, 2026! The Athens Jaycees Senior Fund The Athens Jaycees Senior Fund supports organizations and programs working to improve the lives of older adults (60+) in Athens County. This year, approximately $65,000 is available through ACF’s Fall Grant Cycle. We want to encourage organizations to think broadly about what supporting people as they age could look like. The Jaycees fund has deep local roots. In 2014, Housing for Athens Senior Residents donated $1 million to the Athens County Foundation to establish the fund following the sale of Heritage Commons Senior Housing. Heritage Commons itself began as an Athens Jaycees project in 1981, created to expand housing opportunities for local seniors. To date, the Jaycees Senior Fund has awarded more than $415,000 to support programs and services benefiting older adults across Athens County. What could an Athens Jaycees Senior Fund project look like? We’re inviting applicants to consider how their work could help make Athens County a community where people can remain active, connected, independent, and supported as they age. Projects might address housing, transportation, community and health services, social connection, healthy living, accessibility, caregiver support, or other needs and opportunities identified by older adults. The Jaycees Senior Fund intentionally remains flexible so that organizations can bring forward ideas grounded in what they are seeing and hearing in their communities. If your organization has an idea that could improve the experience of aging in Athens County, we encourage you to consider ACF’s Fall Grant Cycle to access the Jaycees Senior Fund. The deadline for grant requests supporting senior-related programs has been extended to October 18, 2026. For more information, please visit athensfoundation.org/grants. -------- If you’d like guidance in developing or strengthening an age-friendly program idea, we encourage you to reach out directly to Amy Lipka with Age-Friendly Athens County at alipka@athenspublichealth.org. The Athens City-County Health Department will also sponsor Healthy Aging Community Grants in early 2027.