How Akron Children’s Foundation Turns Philanthropy Into Care for Kids Across Northeast Ohio

What Does Akron Children’s Foundation Do?

“Our sole mission at Akron Children’s Foundation is to support the services and programs of Akron Children’s in all of the communities that we serve,” says Shelly Brown, chief development officer and executive director of Akron Children’s Foundation.

That mission encompasses a broad range of pediatric needs.

Foundation-supported philanthropy can help fund major facilities and technology, advance clinical and community programs, recruit and retain pediatric specialists and provide resources for children and families that extend beyond the hospital or doctor’s office.

As Akron Children’s expands across Northeast Ohio, the Foundation’s role is also growing — connecting community generosity with the health system’s strategic priorities and the needs of the children it serves.

How Does Akron Children’s Foundation Connect Donors With Community Needs?

A central part of the Foundation’s role is matching donors’ interests with identified needs at Akron Children’s.

“We are really driven by making the match with the donor and where their passion lies,” Brown says.

That can mean supporting a major capital project, a pediatric subspecialty, behavioral health, community health, family support or a program that makes a child’s healthcare experience more manageable.

The Foundation helps turn that interest into tangible support for Akron Children’s programs and services.

Within the Come Grow With Us campaign, priorities include pediatric subspecialties as well as capital, programmatic and patient needs.

“Donor support helps us achieve our strategic priorities in a bigger way,” Brown says. “We can treat more people and be present in more communities.”

How Is Akron Children’s Expanding Pediatric Care Across Northeast Ohio?

Akron Children’s has more than 70 locations, including pediatric practices, health centers, urgent care facilities and two hospitals.

The health system is continuing to grow its presence in Greater Cleveland, with a Rocky River health center and a future South Euclid location on the former Notre Dame College campus.

For the Foundation, supporting that growth means helping Akron Children’s bring independent, specialized pediatric care closer to more families.

“Providing a variety of care and access to the right care at the right time at the right place is crucial,” Brown says.

The goal is not simply to add locations. It is to make sure children can access appropriate pediatric services in the communities where they live.

What Does the Come Grow With Us Campaign Support?

Come Grow With Us is a $250 million Akron Children’s campaign designed to strengthen the pediatric specialty programs and services the health system provides.

“It’s designed to take pediatric healthcare to the next level,” Brown says.

The campaign supports pediatric subspecialties, including capital, research, programmatic and patient needs. It also reflects Akron Children’s broader efforts to expand care and reach more children throughout Northeast Ohio.

For Akron Children’s Foundation, the campaign provides a framework for bringing donors and community partners together around shared pediatric healthcare priorities.

How Did Donors Help Create the Tom and Jill Zidian Autism Center?

The Tom and Jill Zidian Autism Center is an example of how Akron Children’s Foundation can help bring a planned healthcare project to fruition sooner.

Akron Children’s was already caring for children with autism, but families often traveled between locations for primary care, specialty services, testing and rehabilitation.

The health system envisioned bringing those services together in a dedicated space designed around the sensory and clinical needs of children with autism.

The project was part of Akron Children’s strategic plan. Philanthropy changed the timetable.

A $2 million lead gift inspired additional community support and helped Akron Children’s move the project forward by approximately three years.

“Philanthropy was the engine behind making this idea a reality and enabled us to raise investment dollars in a fairly short amount of time,” Brown says.

The project demonstrates the Foundation’s role in helping donors rally around a specific need and providing the resources to accelerate a major initiative.

“People saw the need, and they came together and really helped us to do that,” Brown says.

How Does the Foundation Support Community-Based Healthcare?

Akron Children’s Foundation supports efforts to bring healthcare beyond traditional medical settings and closer to where children live, learn and grow.

School-based health programs bring care directly into more than 200 buildings across 45 districts, helping children access services without requiring families to make another trip to a medical office.

“Having visibility and resources right in the community close to home is a game-changer,” Brown says.

The same community-focused philosophy extends to programs addressing food insecurity, injury prevention and wellness.

What Is the Food Farmacy?

The Food Farmacy connects eligible patient families experiencing food insecurity with nutritious groceries and support.

The program recognizes that access to nutritious food can have a direct effect on a child’s health and well-being.

The Food Farmacy currently operates in Akron and Boardman, with philanthropic support providing opportunities to extend the resource to additional communities.

For Akron Children’s Foundation, programs like the Food Farmacy illustrate how donor support can address needs that affect children's health outside of a traditional clinical setting.

How Does the Foundation Support Children Beyond Medical Treatment?

Pediatric care involves more than diagnosing and treating an illness.

Akron Children’s Foundation supports services that help children and families manage the emotional, practical and social challenges that can accompany serious or complex medical conditions.

Child life specialists, expressive therapists, care coordinators, navigators, palliative care teams and family support programs are part of that broader care picture.

For Noah, a child receiving cancer treatment at Akron Children’s, songwriting and learning to play the ukulele provided a creative outlet during an experience largely beyond his control.

These programs can give children ways to express emotions, maintain a sense of normalcy and navigate difficult healthcare experiences.

How Does Philanthropy Support Akron Children’s Workforce?

Excellent pediatric care depends on the people delivering it.

Foundation-supported philanthropy helps advance professional development, research, employee wellness, recruitment and retention, as well as innovations such as virtual nursing.

For registered nurse Aliyah, her connection to Akron Children’s began when she was a patient receiving a kidney transplant. Years later, she returned through a nursing internship and ultimately became part of the Akron Children’s team.

Philanthropic investment also supports the expertise behind pediatric subspecialty care, including research and technology, fellowships and endowed chairs and programs associated with intensive care, cardiac care and childhood cancer and blood disorders.

For children with complex conditions, access to highly specialized pediatric expertise can make a meaningful difference.

Through Come Grow With Us, Brown says investments will help Akron Children’s “continue to be the leader that we are across specialties.”

How Is the Foundation Supporting Behavioral Health?

Behavioral healthcare is a significant focus of Akron Children’s philanthropic efforts.

The health system is expanding inpatient capacity while investing in integrated behavioral health, addiction treatment, programming and the professionals needed to provide that care.

Donor support has helped fund a new inpatient behavioral health unit that “triples our capacity,” Brown says. “Behavioral health is a significant focus for us because it’s a huge crisis and the need is so great.”

The investment reflects the Foundation’s broader role in helping Akron Children’s respond to emerging needs while expanding services for children and families.

Why Is Community Giving Important to Akron Children’s Foundation?

Major gifts can accelerate transformational projects, but the Foundation emphasizes that philanthropy is ultimately a collective effort.

Community support has been part of Akron Children’s history, allowing donors to invest in the programs, services and facilities that matter most to them while supporting a shared mission.

Whether a gift helps build a specialized facility, fund behavioral healthcare, provide food assistance or give a child an outlet through expressive therapy, the Foundation’s role is to connect generosity with a need.

For Brown, that makes the work personal.

Behind every campaign priority, facility and program is a child or family who will experience the result.

And the focus remains where it belongs.

“We’re here for the kids,” Brown says.

Related Reading:

For more on the $50 million gift and the $250 million Come Grow With Us campaign, see “How a $50 Million Gift Is Powering a $250 Million Expansion of Pediatric Care at Akron Children’s.”

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