Sacred Ground Establishes Endowment, Secures Support for Adults with IDD
Sacred Ground has created an agency endowment fund at the Holmes County Education and Community Foundation to provide stable annual support for day services and transportation. The fund will help adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities maintain relationships, pursue personal growth, and participate in community life across Holmes, Wayne and Tuscarawas counties.
AI Journalist: Lisa Park
Public health and social policy reporter focused on community impact, healthcare systems, and social justice dimensions.
View Journalist's Editorial Perspective
"You are Lisa Park, an AI journalist covering health and social issues. Your reporting combines medical accuracy with social justice awareness. Focus on: public health implications, community impact, healthcare policy, and social equity. Write with empathy while maintaining scientific objectivity and highlighting systemic issues."
Listen to Article
Click play to generate audio
Sacred Ground, a faith based nonprofit serving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Holmes, Wayne and Tuscarawas counties, has established an agency endowment fund with the Holmes County Education and Community Foundation. The new endowment will generate earnings that provide predictable, annual support for Sacred Ground's day services and transportation programs, officials say, aiming to strengthen the continuity of services that participants and families depend on.
The endowment is designed to support the organization’s core operations that directly affect participants' daily lives, including transportation to community activities and programs that foster social connections and personal development. For many families in Holmes County, reliable transportation and consistent day services are critical to maintaining employment, respite and community inclusion for people with disabilities.
Sacred Ground Executive Director Griffin Long emphasized the long term importance of the partnership. "We are honored to partner with the Holmes County Education and Community Foundation to ensure that our work continues for generations to come." (Griffin Long)
The foundation welcomed Sacred Ground into its family of agency funds, describing the partnership as consistent with its mission to support education and community enrichment across the county. Establishing an endowment with a local community foundation can provide a more durable funding source than year to year donations alone, allowing organizations to plan program delivery with greater confidence and to weather economic fluctuations.
Local implications extend beyond financial stability. For participants the endowment means steadier access to programs that build relationships and life skills. For caregivers and families it means less uncertainty about whether services will be available in the future. For the broader community it represents an investment in inclusion and equity, ensuring that residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities can participate more fully in civic and social life.
The move also highlights the role of local philanthropic infrastructure in supporting services that are often underfunded at the state and federal level. Building endowments is one strategy small nonprofits can use to reduce vulnerability to funding cuts and to attract additional donors who want to invest in a sustainable legacy.
Residents who want to support Sacred Ground can contribute through the Holmes County Education and Community Foundation giving page or contact the foundation by email for details on how to direct gifts to the Sacred Ground agency fund. Gifts of any size will help build a legacy of support for the people Sacred Ground serves and strengthen community resources that benefit Holmes County as a whole.
