Community Impact
Reaching a Broader Community
In order for our region to continue to thrive, every county’s villages, towns and cities must work together to strengthen the place we call home. Rochester Area Community Foundation plays a key role in maintaining the vitality and well-being of the greater Rochester region — Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne and Yates counties — through strategic grants to nonprofit organizations that strive to make our communities better. Since our founding in 1972, we have awarded more than $285 million in grants to help people who live and work here and to improve the services for those who need it most.
Building Tomorrow’s Community
To become a world-class city, we must embrace and prepare all of our youth for the future. For the Community Foundation, that means working to change the system in ways that benefit our youth beginning at birth.
Our grants, scholarships, and community leadership focus on systemic changes that help youth at all stages of development. General information is available about all of our interest areas. Youth-supporting grants are made in several interest areas: Early Childhood; Education; and Youth & Families. Additionally, we build for the future through our Health & Environment interest area.
Creating an Engaged Community
Engaging people in common challenges builds a stronger community, and an inclusive community engages everyone in civic life. Through our Civic Engagement interest area, we encourage greater Rochester residents to become involved with their government and each other.
Engagement also is fostered through our Women & Girls interest area, with its focus on increasing awareness of issues facing women and girls, increasing the range of options available to women and girls, and supporting their personal growth. Our Successful Aging interest area is creating a model for engagement that will capture the energy and expertise of the baby boom generation to address serious social issues in our community.
Celebrating a Vibrant Community
Ever since our first grant to Garth Fagan Dance (then the Bucket Dance Theatre) in 1985, the Community Foundation has enhanced quality of life through the Arts & Culture interest area. A strong arts and culture scene enriches individual lives and contributes to our community's economic health. We focus our funding on helping arts organizations build financial stability and reach diverse audiences.
With its emphasis on preserving historic assets and artifacts and promoting education, our Historical Preservation interest area also enhances the vitality and vibrancy of our community.