Shane Williamson, president & CEO of the Albion Community Foundation (ACF), said the organizations retain their own missions and plans, but working in the same building makes it easier to recognize where their work overlaps.

“One of the things Albion struggles with is working together,” Williamson said. Organizations can develop “a sense of ownership of their part of the pie,” he said, when the larger goal should be figuring out “how we can expend our resources in a responsible way that can serve the greatest amount of people possible.”

Sharing a building does not solve every problem, Williamson said, but it creates what he called a “natural workflow.” A donor meeting with the Foundation might also be a business owner who needs to talk with the Chamber, while a community project may need help from several organizations.

“We can work with the EDC and the Chamber and the Foundation,” Williamson said, “to see what mechanisms we all have that can work together and make that happen.”

City Hall is just around the corner, making it easy to connect with city officials when projects involve planning, zoning, ordinances or City Council action.

“You don’t have to move your car!” Williamson said.

Williamson also praised City Manager Sheryl Theriot’s work coordinating city efforts and emphasized Albion College’s role in bringing development professionals together at the Ludington Center. He said the building is becoming what they call the “development hub of Albion.”

“Every development professional in Albion is under this roof,” he said.

The Foundation’s role can be less visible than the projects that eventually result. Since its founding in 1968, ACF has built and managed charitable funds intended to address community needs over time and carry donors’ intentions forward.

“People leave, legacies don’t,” Williamson said.

Albion lost several people this summer whose legacies continue to touch the community in different ways, including Vera Simpson, Carol de Nicola and Dolly Parton.

For Simpson, planting seeds was both literal and figurative. She believed in investing in young people and helping them develop practical skills, including sewing and gardening. Her work included Vision of Life and Albion Community Gardens. Williamson said ACF has helped support the gardens over the years, and its board has recognized their importance, including their role in making healthy food available.

Parton’s legacy continues to arrive in children’s mailboxes. Dolly Parton created the Imagination Library to provide a free book every month from birth until kindergarten — about 60 new books for a child enrolled throughout those years. Albion families with an eligible child can sign up through the Albion District Library, with no income requirement. The library partnered with ACF to establish a fund that could grow through investment and donations.

Another investment in Albion’s youngest residents is Rx Kids. An expectant mother living in Albion can receive as much as $4,500 — $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 a month for the first six months after her baby is born. There is no income requirement.

Expectant mothers can enroll beginning at 16 weeks of pregnancy through Rx Kids. Help with enrollment is also available through Calhoun County Public Health Department and WIC staff at the Ralph and Mary Cram Medical Center on Market Place.

Rx Kids launched in Albion on July 1. By Aug. 26, 19 Albion families had enrolled and $30,500 had already been distributed. ACF was one of the local funding partners whose investment helped bring the larger Rx Kids partnership to Albion.

Funds honoring Carol and Guy de Nicola and Beth and John Saurer show how one philanthropic investment can grow into something much larger. Christie and Tony de Nicola pledged $2 million to ACF in 2021 for projects focused largely on parks, recreation, children and families, establishing two funds honoring their parents.

McIntosh Park became one of the major projects. Williamson said the philanthropic investment helped the city leverage millions more in state and federal dollars for another phase of park improvements and road work in the surrounding neighborhood.

“Because we invested, they invested,” Williamson said.

The park now includes what Williamson described as the largest free municipal splash pad in Michigan.

Not every idea becomes a project, and some can take years. Williamson said ACF often asks for more information, vets the idea and seeks board input before deciding whether it is a project the Foundation wants to help move forward.

Asked what he would like to see in Albion if resources were unlimited, Williamson mentioned a community center, more housing and a more vibrant downtown. He said he looks forward to a day when every downtown business storefront is occupied.

“Not everything is for everyone,” Williamson said, “but everyone should have something in their community that they love.”