Appalachian hills and trees in Athens, Ohio
The Sugar Bush Foundation

The Sugar Bush Foundation

Since 2005, the Sugar Bush Foundation has funded partnerships between Ohio University and community organizations that restore the environment, strengthen local food systems, and grow a resilient economy. Within every project, OHIO students are engaged in the region, working on real problems, learning to love this place. The Sugar Bush Foundation is a supporting organization of The Ohio University Foundation.

What We Value

Watch the videos below to learn about our core commitments.

Supporting Campus and Community Partnerships

Engaging Students

Building on Regional Assets

Restoring the Environment

Creating Replicable Models

Current Projects

Habitat Social Enterprise

Explore what Habitat for Humanity does, and the conception of its new construction social enterprise which responds to needs in the region for additional construction services for nonprofits and other programs serving those with the most acute needs in our region.

More about Social Enterprise

At a Glance:

Full Story:

Appalachian Ohio Zero Waste Initiative

Waste 360 featured the Zero Waste Initiative. Hear from Ed Newman, zero waste director of Rural Action, Hylie Voss, president of the Sugar Bush Foundation and Elissa Welch speak about how they are turning waste into an asset.

More about Zero Waste

 At a Glance:

 Full Story:

Acid Mine Drainage Paint Pigment

In Appalachian Ohio, many streams are polluted with acid mine drainage running out of abandoned coal mines. True Pigments and OHIO partners worked for a decade on solutions for large seeps, successfully restoring seven miles of stream, but at the largest of these seeps, a new solution was needed.

More about Acid Mine Drainage

 At a Glance:

 Full Story:

Creative Abundance Model

In 1998, Passion Works began as a collaborative community studio housed within a sheltered workshop where people with and without developmental differences made art together. The studio became a 501(c)3 non-profit in 2018, and it remains a trailblazer in creating integrated settings where people investigate their own talents and interests while participating in community-based programming and creative employment opportunities.

More about the creative abundance model

 At a Glance:

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The videos linked above were produced by the Barbara Geralds Institute for Storytelling and Social Impact.

 

Past Projects

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