The Community Foundation of Abilene exists to help donors make a lasting impact on the charitable causes that matter to them. Many of the endowment funds we manage make grants to local nonprofits, and part of our mission is to provide services to help strengthen those nonprofits.
So, why do we care about a thriving downtown?
A healthy downtown is a key component to a vibrant, economically-strong city as a whole. That includes our nonprofit sector.
Abilene’s downtown is a hub of historical landmarks, arts and commerce and is often the first place visitors go when they come to Abilene. If we can attract them with our downtown scene, we can retain them and inspire them to frequent other establishments across town.
Our nonprofits play a vital role in providing a rich downtown experience. Many of Abilene’s top tourist attractions are nonprofit organizations, several of which are downtown. I’ll name a few:
- National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature
- The Grace Museum
- The Historic Paramount Theatre
- Frontier Texas!
- Center for Contemporary Arts
- 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum
A robust hotel that can accommodate large meetings and conferences has the potential to attract events, which in turn brings people to our downtown. The more consumers we have downtown, the more our businesses and nonprofit attractions thrive, all of which entices further development.
We depend on the nonprofits listed above to curate the cultural experience visitors crave and the quality of life we all demand, hence Abilene needs these nonprofits to thrive.
The business-nonprofit relationship.
The more our businesses prosper, the more our nonprofits prosper.
Abilene is fortunate to have an immensely giving business sector. Many of our local nonprofits benefit financially from partnerships with businesses.
Nonprofits depend on local businesses to do well so that companies and individual employees can afford to give to the causes they care about.
Our downtown is a center of commerce. We must do what we can to bolster it, protect it, and help it grow, for the sake of every facet of our community.
The future is now.
Abilene’s downtown is burgeoning, and the iron for growth is hot.
The woman who helped found the Community Foundation of Abilene would be proud to see the trajectory of downtown development today. Judy Matthews was a true visionary, and we have her to thank for restoring and reviving several of the downtown landmarks that imbue our community with culture.
May we all have the vision Judy had as we pursue an even more vibrant community today, making way for a limitless tomorrow.