In late 2025, the program and communication teams of Berks County Community Foundation spent two days in the Kutztown area. There, they visited local institutions that contribute to the area’s vitality.
The foundation conducts these site visits to gain knowledge about the communities we serve. Some institutions have received gifts from various funds the foundation manages. Other institutions simply enrich the cultural, educational, or religious life of the county.
This blog post is part one of a two-part series on the Kutztown tour.
The tour started at the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center on Kutztown University’s campus. There, our tour guide, Patrick J. Donmoyer, talked about the Berks County art tradition of barn stars, an art form which can be traced back to the late 1700s. Milton J. Hill (1887-1972), the celebrated local artist, was a third-generation barn star painter and native speaker of Pennsylvania Dutch. Hill contributed to dozens of installations of barn stars that are still hanging today. In fact, the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center offers a free, self-guided tour of the barn stars of Berks County. Berks County is home to the highest concentration of barn stars in Pennsylvania, a testament to the cultural influence of Pennsylvania Germans in the area.
A barn star from a local barn that has been removed for preservation and restoration purposes.
Donmoyer also shared famous Pennsylvania Dutch folklore and traditions with the team. These folk legends included such the sainted healer Mountain Mary and the grumpy Christmas visitor known as the Belsnickel. Donmoyer also shared the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition of herbal healing, quilting, and of course, local cuisine.
After visiting the Heritage Center, the foundation team briefly joined an undergraduate class at Kutztown University’s Botanical Research Center. Dr. Chris Habeck’s students on the regenerative organic agriculture track presented their projects, which included research on biochar’s effects on soil health and plant growth. In addition, the research done at the center will benefit local partners, namely farmers from the Rodale Institute and beyond.
A student of the Botanical Research Center presents research on biochar.
A short walk on Kutztown University’s campus brought the team to the university’s planetarium/observatory. There, Dr. Phill Reed demonstrated the updated technology the planetarium requires to run. The Kutztown University Planetarium is open to the community for various educational and recreational shows. After viewing one of these shows, Reed and the foundation team ascended the stairwell which led to the C.R. Chambliss Astronomical Observatory. There, Reed informed the group of notable research that had been and continues to be conducted using the observatory. Students have identified 15 new exoplanets using the observatory, providing new insight into the architecture of our solar system.
Dr. Phill Reed demonstrates how students use the observatory.
Leaving the university’s campus, the tour continued down Kutztown’s Main Street and into the residential landscape of the area. The Kutztown Area Historical Society is home to many installations, including a miniature train museum, renderings of Victorian-era living spaces, and a room dedicated to the late artist Keith Haring. The Historical Society is open to the public and has community projects in which residents can participate.
A portion of the Keith Haring display at the Kutztown Area Historical Society. The display includes Haring’s artwork using chalk, a temporary display protected by glass.
Part one of our Kutztown visit concluded where it began, on Kutztown University’s campus. The Wells-Rapp Center for Mallet Percussion Research boasts an archive of artifacts, instruments, manuscripts, and recordings of mallet percussive pioneers. The center also has a performance hall and rehearsal rooms for Kutztown students and community members. The Kutztown Pipe Band, a Kutztown University and nonprofit community group in the area, utilizes the space. With support from the Juniper Fund of Berks County Community Foundation, the band has grown its membership. Now, they offer free “Intro to Piping” classes for those with no prior experience who may be interested in joining.
A mallet instrument and historical artifacts on display at the Wells-Rapp Center for Mallet Percussion Research.
This concludes part one of the two-part series about the foundation’s site visit to the Kutztown area.
Many people approach a new year with a genuine desire to be more intentional about their charitable giving.
They know they want to make a difference, align their generosity with their values, and perhaps even involve their families—but they are often unsure where to begin. The combination of busy lives, changing tax laws, and an ever-growing number of worthy causes can make getting started feel overwhelming. The good news is that taking a few simple, thoughtful actions at the beginning of the year can bring clarity and confidence to your giving.
Here are three first steps to inspire you:
Consider reviewing your 2025 charitable contributions with the team at the Community Foundation. Looking back at last year’s giving can be surprisingly helpful, especially when guided by professionals who understand both philanthropy and the local community. The Community Foundation can help you see the real-world impact of your gifts, identify patterns in your giving, and highlight opportunities you may not have considered. This review also creates a natural bridge to planning your 2026 support, whether that means refining your focus, adjusting gift amounts, or exploring new charitable vehicles. Just as important, it allows you to begin thinking strategically about future years, helping ensure that your generosity grows in a way that is both meaningful and sustainable.
Talk with your tax advisors as soon as possible about whether and how the new tax laws might impact your situation. Charitable giving is closely connected to tax and estate planning, and early conversations can help you make informed decisions before the year gets too far along. This is also an ideal time to revisit your estate plan and beneficiary designations. Many donors choose to include a gift to their fund at the Community Foundation in their wills, trusts, or beneficiary designations on retirement accounts or life insurance policies, creating a lasting legacy that reflects their values. Coordinating these updates with your tax advisor and the foundation can ensure your charitable intentions are clearly documented, tax-efficient, and aligned with your overall financial and estate planning goals.
Set goals for your charitable involvement in 2026. Rather than giving reactively, goal setting allows you to be proactive and intentional about how you engage with the causes you care about. Berks County Community Foundation can help you explore new and emerging charities, learn more about pressing needs in the community, and connect with organizations that align with your interests. Together, you and our team can create a plan for timing gifts throughout the year, whether through recurring contributions, single large gifts early in the year to help a favorite charity leap ahead, or strategic gifts of highly appreciated or complex assets. This approach not only makes giving more manageable but also helps ensure your generosity has the greatest possible impact.
As you look ahead, remember that you do not have to navigate charitable planning on your own. The Community Foundation is here to serve as a trusted partner—whether you are just getting started, refining an existing plan, or thinking about the legacy you want to leave for future generations. We invite you to reach out anytime to ask questions, explore ideas, or take the next step in your giving journey. We are honored to help you turn your charitable intentions into meaningful, lasting impact.
Please reach out to Molly McCullough Robbins, Vice President for Philanthropic Services, by calling 610-685-2223 or emailing mollyr@bccf.org.
On Wednesday, November 19th 2025, the Berks community gathered at WCR Center for the Arts in Reading, PA, for Berks County Community Foundation’s annual meeting, “A Night at the Theater”.
Monica Reyes, Vice President for Programs and Initiatives, welcomes attendees. Photo by Jeremy Drey
Foundation President Kevin Murphy gave opening remarks and shared a broad overview of the foundation’s work during the previous fiscal year.
“But the assets we manage only represent our potential for making progress,” said Kevin Murphy. “What we do with those assets is what really matters.” Building community partnerships and supporting our local nonprofits are what really matters, now more than ever.
Foundation President, Kevin Murphy, gives opening remarks. Photo by Jeremy Drey
Keynote speaker Kim Sheffer, Lifelong Learning Program Officer at the foundation, expanded on the topic of community engagement and collaboration. Over the past year, Kim convened with local businesses, higher education institutions, and nonprofits to develop a strategic plan for retaining more Berks County college and university graduates.
Kim brought Generation Impact, a program of VOiCEup Berks focused on engaging, connecting, and retaining 18–24-year-olds in Berks County, into the conversation. The foundation is proud to announce that we are supporting Generation Impact’s pilot program, which will hire campus ambassadors, manage annual signature events, and provide networking opportunities for students and employers.
“If our collective goal is to make it compelling for college students and young professionals to say “yes” to Berks,” said Kim Sheffer, “we must work together to make it a vibrant and livable place.”
Kim Sheffer, Lifelong Learning Program Officer, delivers the interactive keynote speech. Photos by Jeremy Drey.
Contributing to our community vibrancy are Tim Shew and Jane Brockman, the guest performers for the annual meeting. Credited with decades of lead roles in Broadway productions, Tim and Jane are experts in their respective fields.
Broadway veterans Tim Shew and Jane Brockman perform a musical number. Photo by Jeremy Drey
They are also the perfect people to host and direct local musical theater workshops—which they are currently doing at Alvernia University. In the spirit of collaboration, these workshops—and the community musical theatre production they will stage in the Spring of 2026—are open for any Berks County college/university student to attend. Independent community actors are also welcome to join.
From right to left, the above photos feature: Musical theater workshop participant and producer of the upcoming community musical theater production performs “Beautiful City” from the musical Godspell; Musical theater workshop participant and current Alvernia University student performs “Diva’s Lament (Whatever Happened to My Part?)” from the musical Spamalot; Musical theater workshop participant performs “On the Steps of the Palace” from the musical Into the Woods. Photos by Jeremy Drey
At Berks County Community Foundation, we are honored to work with you and so many other families, individuals, and businesses to help organize your charitable giving and support favorite charities that make a difference in our community.
As the year winds down, here are 10 giving tips to keep in mind:
Remember that 2025 is a pivotal year for charitable planning. With more stringent charitable deduction limitations taking effect in 2026 under new tax laws, this year may offer a favorable tax environment for your giving depending on your personal situation. Talk with your tax advisors as soon as possible.
Work with your tax advisors to evaluate the benefits of “bunching” multiple years of charitable gifts into 2025. By front-loading contributions, you may be able to exceed the standard deduction this year and maximize your tax benefits.
Use a donor-advised fund to simplify year-end giving. You can make one tax-deductible contribution now, receive the deduction in 2025, and recommend grants to nonprofits over time, throughout 2026 and beyond.
Give appreciated stock instead of cash. Donating long-term appreciated securities may eliminate capital gains tax and in turn increase your charitable impact. Talk with our team and your tax advisors as soon as possible so these gifts can be processed well before the end of the year.
Explore giving from your IRA if you’re 70½ or older. A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) can reduce taxable income and, if applicable, satisfy required minimum distributions—to the tune of $108,000 per taxpayer in 2025. IRS rules allow you to make QCDs to a wide variety of funds at the Community Foundation (but not to your donor-advised fund).
Check to see whether you’ve met your charitable goals for 2025. Don’t wait until late December to review your plan. Our team can help you think through options for this year and begin to coordinate more complex gifts for next year.
Support the community overall by making gifts to existing funds at Berks County Community Foundation. 2025 has been a tough year for many people in our community, and our team can help you support families in crisis both now and in the future.
Review your beneficiary designations. Naming your fund as a beneficiary of an IRA or other retirement account can create meaningful future gifts while reducing the tax burden on heirs.
Avoid last-minute surprises. Gifts of complex assets—such as real estate or closely-held stock—require additional steps and a lot of lead time, so contact us early if you’re considering these options. Even if it is too late to complete these gifts in 2025, start working with our team on options for 2026 gifts.
Above all, lean on the team at the Community Foundation! We are here to help you explore the most tax-efficient ways to meet your charitable goals, whether you’re planning year-end gifts, updating a legacy plan, or thinking ahead to the changes coming in 2026.
Thank you for the opportunity to work with you. We look forward to supporting your charitable goals this year and for many years to come.
This solicitation is valid only for residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
You are likely aware that many families, organizations, and agencies in our community are struggling, and you may be wondering how you can help most effectively. Whether increased community needs are triggered by a budget impasse, government shutdown, or other economic factors, the Community Foundation is committed to helping you structure charitable giving plans that make a real difference in the lives of people in Berks County.
Here are a few examples of how our team can help:
Real-time identification of needs.
The program team at the Community Foundation has its finger on the pulse of which organizations are helping families in crisis, and which organizations are hurting the most due to state and federal funding gaps. Nonprofits in our community can be stretched thin by attempting to meet the rising demand for support. The foundation knows where dollars are most needed and how those dollars translate into immediate impact.
Offering fast and flexible charitable solutions.
If you have already established a fund at the Community Foundation, or if you are considering doing so, you can use it to support charities on the front lines in our community.
Leverage important timing.
The urgency of community needs in late 2025 coincides with an important window of opportunity for people who itemize their income tax deductions. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), limits on charitable deductions will tighten in early 2026. That means it may be advantageous for certain donors to give more this year-by establishing or adding to a fund—to maximize both tax benefits and impact.
Plan for the future.
The Community Foundation works with you and other donors and fund holders to strengthen our community’s ability to respond to urgent needs, regardless of when and why they occur.
We encourage you to reach out anytime.
At this moment, when urgent needs and tax opportunities are occurring simultaneously, we encourage you to reach out as soon as possible. It is our honor to work with our community members who care so deeply about Berks County.
Let us help you help others.
What are your plans? What do you need to get started? We’d love to have a one-on-one conversation with you anytime you want to talk.
At Berks County Community Foundation, we’re committed to working with individuals, families, and businesses to help make a difference in the causes they love.
Many people who establish funds have at least a general idea of the impact they’d like to achieve. If you’ve established a fund at the foundation, or if you are considering doing so, you might already have charities and priorities you want to support.
Our team can help you achieve your charitable goals. These goals include giving to charities you’ve already supported and introducing you to new initiatives and programs within your interest. Our program officers are experts in their areas of focus and have the latest information on community needs.
Here are some questions to consider:
Do the causes and issues that matter most to you address short-term, immediate community needs, or long-term needs that will impact future generations?
Would you like your children, grandchildren, or other loved ones to help advise your charitable fund in the future?
Would you like to see the results of your giving now, or are you comfortable with your legacy taking shape beyond your lifetime?
When you think about your charitable impact—whether in five years or fifty—what would make you feel your fund or funds at the Community Foundation accomplished their purpose?
Please reach out anytime. Together, we can craft a charitable giving plan that honors your unique vision. Whether you’re aiming to create a lasting legacy, make an immediate impact, or both, we are here to help.
READING, PA (October 1, 2025) – Berks County Community Foundation has elected three new members to its Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2025.
Steven Fritz began his career in Reading as a CPA with EY (then Ernst & Whinny,) and was employed by VF Corporation for 30 years in positions which included General Auditor, several division CFO/COO roles, President of Jantzen and finally, Preside of VF Outlet.
He has served on the board of Luthercare of Lititz, as well as the board of a medium-sized manufacturer located in Reading, PA. Previous NFP board roles included the Berks County Chamber, RiverPlace, and Berks Economic Partnership.
Julia H. Klein is a retired entrepreneur and the former Chairwoman of C.H. Briggs Company. She is an independent board director at Eastern States Group, the College of Wooster, and an advisor with the Delaware Valley Family Business Center.
Julia is a former director of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, former board chair of Berks County Community Foundation, and many other business and philanthropic boards.
Rabbi Brian I. Michelson is the rabbi of Reform Congregation Oheb Sholom in Reading, PA, where he has served since 1998. Previously, Brian spent six years as a rabbi at Temple Beth Israel in Melbourne, Australia. In 2017, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity by the Hebrew Union College in honor of twenty-five years of service to the Jewish community.
Brian serves as a chaplain with the Reading Police Department and as the Jewish chaplain at the Reading Hospital. He is president of Easy Does It, Inc. and the past chair of the Home Health Care Foundation. He has served as a member of the board for Opportunity House and Berks Youth Chorus. He is one of the founders of “A Common Heart” Jewish, Catholic, and Muslim Dialogue. Brian was awarded the Franciscan Prize by Alvernia University in 2016.
Board members may serve three, three-year terms.
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Berks County Community Foundation is a nonprofit corporation that serves as a civic leader for our region by developing, managing and distributing charitable funds aimed at improving the quality of life in Berks County.
The Community Foundation manages more than 380 charitable funds. Each year, those funds distribute scholarships and grants to support local students and assist a variety of nonprofit organizations and causes. More information is available at www.bccf.org.
We’re honored to work with so many individuals, families, and businesses to make a difference in the causes you care about. Philanthropy isn’t just about wealth—it’s about values, habits, and improving the quality of life in our community. This philosophy guides our work with donors across generations. We hope you enjoy this month’s insights and tips.
We are Here for You: Four Reasons to Call the Community Foundation
In an economic and legislative environment full of unpredictability, we encourage you to tap into the knowledgeable team at the Community Foundation – perhaps even more than you have in the past.
If you’ve already established a fund at the Community Foundation, you’re familiar with many of the ways we make charitable giving easy, flexible, and effective. This allows you to achieve your goals for improving the quality of life in our community as well as fulfilling your own estate planning and financial objectives.
Not quite sure when to reach out to the Community Foundation? If any of these situations applies to you, drop us an email or give us a call!
1. You promised yourself at the end of 2024 that you’ll never again get caught in a year-end crunch.
The last few months of the year are always hectic with holiday activities. When you layer on the added stress of tax planning and completing the charitable giving plans you set back in January, you might tip the scales from hectic to chaotic! The foundation team can help organize your year-end charitable giving early, so that it achieves both your financial and philanthropic goals.
2. You’re concerned about recent drops in funding to local charities, but you’re not quite sure about what you can do to help.
The Community Foundation is Berks County’s home for charitable giving. That means that we have a finger on the pulse of our community’s needs and the nonprofits that are addressing those needs. Our team can provide recommendations for how you can help fill the gaps in funding that have affected local organizations.
3. Your tax advisor has suggested that 2025 is an important year to increase your charitable donations, but you don’t want your gifts to favorite charities to suddenly spike and then drop again.
For the small percentage of people who itemize deductions on their individual income tax returns, 2025 may indeed present opportunities. Our team is happy to work with you and your tax advisors to structure gifts to a fund at the Community Foundation. This will ensure that you’re leveraging tax advantages while also maintaining consistent support year after year for the causes that are important to you.
4. You’re updating your estate plan and want to leave money to charity, but you’re not exactly sure what charity you want to support.
Please reach out to Berks County Community Foundation anytime you are updating your estate plan or related financial documents, such as beneficiary designations on IRAs, life insurance policies, or retirement accounts. Our team is happy to work with your advisors to make sure you’re exploring the tax benefits of using various types of assets to fund your charitable intentions.
Whatever your charitable giving situation, we are here for you! Whether you’ve already started a fund at the Community Foundation or you’re considering getting involved, we look forward to our conversation.
The Met-Ed/Penelec SEF distributes funds to promote the development and use of renewable energy and clean energy technologies, energy conservation and efficiency, and projects that improve the environment in the Met-Ed and Penelec service territories. The Met-Ed/Penelec SEF is co-managed by the Berks County Community Foundation and the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, respectively.
The funds are seeking nominations for the following positions:
Weatherization
Commercial Customer
At-Large
The Advisory Board consists of no fewer than seven and no more than nine positions. Board members can serve six two-year terms. The Advisory Board meets four times per year on a quarterly basis. Meetings are typically held via Zoom, with the possibility of in-person meetings within the Met-Ed and Penelec rate districts.
For consideration, candidates should meet the following criteria:
Be a resident of Pennsylvania that is affiliated with the Met-Ed or Penelec rate district.
Have interpersonal skills that foster a creative and positive work environment for Board meetings.
Have the ability to work with fellow board members and fund staff to evaluate incoming projects and programs for their mission-fit, participate in technical and financial due diligence discussions, and determine project impact.
Have demonstrated experience in working with Pennsylvania’s sustainable energy sector.
Interested candidates should submit a brief letter of interest and a resume to Emily Smedley (Berks County Community Foundation/Met-Ed) or Mark Keim (Community Foundation for the Alleghenies/Penelec.) Their contact information is below. The letter should provide details on how the candidate fulfills the nomination criteria and the skills they bring to the advisory board. The resume should provide contact information and the candidate’s educational and work experience.
Nominations should be submitted by Friday, November 7, 2025.
All candidates will be notified via email upon receipt of their letter of interest and resume. The advisory board will submit the successful nominee(s) to the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission for final approval.
Contact Information
In the Met-Ed rate district, please contact Emily Smedley:
Environment and Energy Program Officer, Berks County Community Foundation Fund Manager, Met-Ed Sustainable Energy Fund Emilys@bccf.org
In the Penelec rate district, please contact Mark Keim:
Program Officer, Community Foundation for the Alleghenies Fund Manager, Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund mkeim@cfalleghenies.org
This announcement is made in keeping with the best practices of the Pennsylvania Sustainable Energy Board (PASEB) and is being distributed on the websites of the Public Utility Commission and the Met-Ed / Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund, as well as relevant newsletters and other sources. This notice may be forwarded to interested parties.
Reading, PA (August 25, 2025) – Health and Human Services Program Officer of Berks County Community Foundation, Cindy Milian, gave the keynote speech at the Community Wellness Department of Reading Hospital Tower Health’s “Voices for Health” event. This event launched the Community Wellness Department’s week-long celebration of community health workers. Tanieka Mason, MPH, Director of Health Equity at Tower Health, asked Cindy to address the health needs of Berks County residents, impart her expert knowledge, and provide a testimonial to the vital services our community health workers provide.
Event attendees and speakers included Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank’s President, Jay Worrall; Reading Hospital President and CEO, Dr. Charles F. Barbera, MD, MBA, MPH, FACEP; Secretary of Human Service of the PA Department of Health, Dr. Valeria Arkoosh, MD, MPH; Executive Deputy Secretary of the PA Department of Health, Kristen Rodack; Senator Judy Schwank; various local health service and pharmaceutical providers, and of course, a cohort of dedicated community health workers who serve Berks County.
According to the Tower Health website, “Reading Hospital’s Community Wellness Department works to identify and address key health issues in the community by leading a variety of programs and initiatives, collaborating with community partners, and investing in the overall health of our community.”
Cindy Milian’s keynote speech for the Community Wellness Department of Reading Hospital Tower Health’s “Voices for Health” event can be found below. Please note that certain photographs and last names of individuals have been omitted to maintain anonymity.
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“Thank you to the Community Wellness Department of Reading Hospital Tower Health for having me as a speaker for this event.
It is an honor to address esteemed hospital leadership, the stewards and officials of our local community, and of course, the cohort of community health workers present today.
My name is Cindy Milian, and I am the Health and Human Services Program Officer at Berks County Community Foundation. After 25 years of working as an Early Intervention Specialist, Therapeutic Staff Support, Home Health Aide Supervisor, Caseworker, and Casework Supervisor in Pennsylvania, I decided to take a well-deserved break by joining the foundation and overseeing hundreds of grants for individuals, public health initiatives, and human services initiatives.
Before I talk to you about community health, patient advocacy, or social determinants of health, I want to talk about my grandson.
This is Alexander (image omitted). He loves Baby Shark, Reggaeton, and being carried on my husband’s shoulders. If anyone here has a one-year-old child in their lives, then you know that they assert themselves and their needs loudly and with conviction. Alexander is no exception to this—we always know when he’s hungry, or wants Papa, or isn’t feeling well. Being a grandmother to Alexander means witnessing community health initiatives in action; it means fielding a lot of requests for help and hugs; it requires the inspection of the tangible and intangible world around him, and evaluating how it will affect his mental, physical, and spiritual health.
But the real inspection I want to conduct today is on the health of Berks County. My current work with the Community Foundation places me in a position of power and privilege: the power—or burden—of saying no to grant applicants, and the privilege of witnessing the life-changing impacts our donors have on their fellow Berks residents.
With the foundation, I’ve met with Hamburg community leaders who are struggling to identify mental health clinics for their at-risk populations; in Reading, I’ve guided a monolingual, Spanish speaking resident through the process of applying for a grant that could save her child’s life; and all over Berks County,
I’ve talked with countless individuals who are one paycheck away from homelessness. They are our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends. They are the patients we see in our offices, clinics, at-home visits and hospital beds every day.
Before we can talk about community health, we must talk about the community. In 2023, the United Way’s ALICE Report, which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, showed that over 40% of Berks County households earned less than the county’s basic cost of living. This means that more than 47,000 Berks County working households are one paycheck away from a severe financial crisis, and more than 18,000 households are living in poverty.
For those 18,000+ households, the cost of a survival budget is unattainable. Meaning 12% of Berks Countians cannot afford the following:
Housing
Childcare
Food
Transportation
Health care
Technology
Taxes and
Unanticipated, one-time costs within the other categories.
So, what budget item would you cut to make ends meet? Would you call out from work and miss a paycheck because you couldn’t afford the bus fare? Would you skip a mammogram appointment to pay your rent this month? These aren’t hyperbolic questions designed to scare you – these are questions that tens of thousands of our community members ask themselves every day.
Some people in Berks County might hear these numbers and think, “well, that’s just a City of Reading issue.” This belief is false.
The need to improve access to equitable care, particularly for marginalized populations
The need to provide behavioral/mental healthcare to both adults and youth
The need to focus on health education and health literacy, especially resources and information tied to wellness and disease prevention
The need to address health disparities and increase the focus on health equity
Based on the information provided in this report, I’d like to share with you a story that highlights the need for these improvements. Last names have been omitted to maintain anonymity.
Ms. Susan is a grandmother, just like me. She lives in Boyertown, and, like so many families in our county, has been tasked with the guardianship of her grandson, who was diagnosed with Joubert Syndrome at birth. This genetic disorder affects part of the brain that controls balance and coordination. The disorder requires extensive therapy and services to manage daily living. Missing these appointments can have severe impacts on health – so why would Susan skip them? Ms. Lauren, a community health worker assigned to Susan’s family, noticed a trend of skipped appointments and decided to check in with the family.
Lauren found that Susan’s husband is wheelchair bound and in need of constant care, just like their grandson. Between providing 24/7 care for both her husband and grandson, Susan struggled to manage the paperwork and scheduling necessary for her grandson to attend school and therapy. Lauren discovered that the family didn’t have readily available access to a computer, where most of this paperwork could be found. That’s when Lauren reached out to the foundation.
For less than $200, Jess’s Sunshine Fund provided a laptop for Susan to manage her grandson’s care. The no more missed appointments led to no more unnecessary declines in her grandson’s health. Susan’s grant is one of the smallest distributions made by Jess’s Sunshine Fund, but it was profoundly impactful.
This technological barrier reveals a much larger truth: when we have a dedicated community health worker committed to the recognition, investigation, and improvement of the conditions that people are born, raised, and grow in, we can work together to create a healthier future.
Stories like Susan’s are just one of hundreds that I’ve been a part of at Berks County Community Foundation. Our relationships with community health workers in the county allow us to allocate donor dollars to essential health initiatives.
I’d like to give you another example of how collaboration with a community health worker made a positive impact on a family.
In 2024, a Berks County community health worker, Ms. Bobbi, noticed that Ms. Carmen, whose son has sickle cell anemia and Lowe syndrome, often rescheduled or missed her son’s necessary, recurring appointments in Philadelphia. After talking with Carmen, Bobbi discovered two things: first, Carmen’s car was in constant need of repair and wholly unreliable. Second, Carmen is a single mom, tasked with providing constant care for her son. As a young boy who is blind, non-verbal, and non-ambulatory, Carmen’s son has total dependence on his mother.
With Bobbi’s help and a written letter of recommendation, Carmen applied for our Arthur O. and Clara M. Schlegel Memorial Fund and was awarded the grant money needed to purchase a reliable vehicle. In Carmen’s case, and too often in Berks, non-medical factors impede our community’s health. We’ve all heard the cliché statement of, “I can’t afford to get sick right now.” Right now, it is our job to make a healthy life attainable and affordable for all.
Addressing the social determinants of health in Berks decreases health issues and lessens the burden on our community. Having a community health worker on your care team to identify both non-medical and medical needs is vital to ensuring positive health outcomes.
Berks County is a beautiful, diverse, and complicated region. We speak different languages, experience different life stressors, and hold vastly different beliefs. But our personal health is fundamentally interconnected with our community’s health. We need community health workers in our offices, clinics, hospital rooms, and mobile health services. Now more than ever, for ourselves and for future generations.
In closing, I want to leave you with one final thought. At Berks County Community Foundation, we have a quote on the wall of our boardroom from local philanthropist and industrialist Louis R. Thun; that reads,
“We remind ourselves constantly that we are heirs of an exceptional past, custodians of a challenging present, and architects of a limitless future.”
I believe that together, we can rise to the challenges presented to us today. I believe that we can build a more equitable, healthy, and vivacious Berks County. And to the community health workers of Berks County – thank you. Your work is invaluable and necessary. True change can start with a single spark, and we need yours.
