For central Ohio’s nonprofit sector, 2025 was a year filled with uncertainty.
Many organizations navigated workforce challenges, rising costs, and major funding shifts, even as more residents turned to them for help with housing, healthcare, food, and other essentials. Yet through it all, nonprofits met the moment with compassion, creativity, and resolve.
Recognizing these mounting pressures, The Columbus Foundation took the unprecedented step of tapping into its funding reserves in 2025 to provide immediate, flexible grant support to local nonprofits. This commitment was bolstered by the launch of the Emergency Response Fund II at the Foundation, giving individuals and businesses a meaningful way to equip nonprofits with the financial resources they need to effectively serve the community.
Among the major investments made by The Columbus Foundation in 2025 was a historic $2 million grant to Community Shelter Board (CSB). This grant—which helped fill an urgent funding gap—provided vital support to CSB’s network of system partners delivering shelter, housing, and other services to individuals experiencing homelessness and housing instability.
“At a time when more individuals and families across central Ohio are facing housing instability, The Columbus Foundation’s investment represented more than funding. It was an investment in a coordinated regional response,” said Sonya Higginbotham, Chair of CSB’s Board of Trustees. “Through Community Shelter Board and our network of nonprofit, public, and community partners, these resources help strengthen the systems, services, and housing solutions that support our neighbors in crisis.”
In addition to housing, The Columbus Foundation also directed emergency grants to organizations on the frontlines of addressing food insecurity. In October 2025, the Foundation invested $500,000 in 21 nonprofits working to ensure our neighbors have access to fresh food.
Weeks later, The Columbus Foundation awarded a $500,000 grant to LifeCare Alliance, providing critical operating support with a focus on its Meals-on-Wheels program. The program delivers thousands of nourishing meals every day to older adults and individuals with a disability or medical challenge.
PICTURED: Meals-on-Wheels volunteer William Moberger prepares to deliver meals.
“This support from The Columbus Foundation came at a critical time for our clients, as we remain one of the only Meals-on-Wheels providers in a major metropolitan area serving without waiting lists,” said Chuck Gehring, President and CEO of LifeCare Alliance. “Financial losses over the past several years placed our service record in jeopardy. The Columbus Foundation continues to be our steadfast partner, ensuring those most in need have food.”
Just as housing and food are foundational to stability, so too is access to healthcare. In December 2025, the Foundation again tapped its reserves and an allocation from the Emergency Response Fund II to grant $750,000 to 12 organizations serving underinsured and uninsured medically vulnerable populations, including free clinics and community health centers.
Collectively, these investments—powered by the extraordinary generosity of donors who established Unrestricted and Field of Interest Funds at the Foundation to meet our community’s challenges—helped stabilize critical services at a moment when many organizations were stretched to their limits. As pressures across the sector evolve, the Foundation remains nimble and responsive in its support to local nonprofits, including through grantmaking, capacity building, and strategic initiatives.