Description

Protecting Stark’s Future is Stark Community Foundation’s initiative to reduce childhood poverty through collaborative, community-based solutions in Stark County. It prioritizes strategies that increase family earnings and disrupt the long-term conditions that keep children and families in poverty, rather than funding immediate needs alone. Grants support planning, implementation, partnership development, and evaluation.

The initiative funds four focus areas: economic stability and opportunity; education and youth development; positive neighborhood environments and place-based resilience; and open innovation with high-impact strategies. Supported approaches include workforce development, integrated employment-focused Navigator roles, youth career pathways, preservation of valuable youth programs, vacant-land restoration, and resident-driven neighborhood efforts. Meaningful partnerships, resident engagement, equity and access for children in high-poverty neighborhoods, and sustainable community impact are central priorities.