Health & Human Services

Akron Community Foundation and its fundholders envision a Summit County where all residents enjoy a healthy, rewarding life.

Protecting the health of our residents means protecting the health of the entire community.

Committed to the basics – and beyond

The lingering effects of the recent recession have reminded Akron  Community Foundation, our fundholders, and all the residents of Summit County how health and wellness are at the heart of our quality of life. If one person’s needs go unmet, everyone around  can suffer.

We help residents who are most vulnerable to the economy meet their basic needs, including food, clothing, shelter and safety from abuse. Our initiatives encourage systemic improvements in the accessibility and availability of each.

The community foundation's commitment to providing food forged a new partnership with the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank: the Food Pantry Capacity Fund. This initiative provided much-needed infrastructure to local pantries so they could better store and distribute fresh, healthy food to their clients, many of whom had found themselves in a position of need for the first time in their lives. 

Over the past decade, the community foundation has made more than $6.8 million in competitive grants to programs that address:

• Food, clothing and shelter needs, including Info Line, which connects people in need to food pantries and other social services

• • • • Are you a fundholder? We can keep you up to date on the community’s arts and culture landscape. Or, we can offer funding options in this and other areas of interest.

• Preventative and diagnostic health care, including OPEN M's free clinic, which serves the uninsured, working poor
• Medical research and health education, including Blick Clinic's wellness program for people with disabilities
• Substance abuse, public health and mental health, including a grant to help Community Support Services train case managers of patients with schizophrenia
• Social and family services, including the Waiting Child Fund, which helps children in foster care find permanent homes

Those are just a few. Donor advisors and designated funds contribute approximately $750,000 more in grants annually to the Health & Human Services programs of their choice.