In this April update, I’m pleased to share several Trailhead milestones: we’ve welcomed new leadership capacity on our team, we’re moving forward with plans to establish our office in downtown Akron, and we’re continuing community conversations across the region to better understand health and wellness assets and needs—including an open invitation to connect with additional nonprofit leaders in Stark and Medina counties.
The Trailhead team continues to grow. Eustacia Netzel Hatcher joined the team to serve as Trailhead’s chief financial officer. She previously served as finance director for the Cleveland Zoological Society, the fundraising partner to the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo.
Eustacia has more than three decades of strategic financial and operational experience across corporate and nonprofit sectors. She is a proud Leadership Akron graduate and during her first week on the job, she had an opportunity to participate with a Signal News interview with her teammates.
I am excited to announce that our space plans are coming together. We are signing a letter of intent to secure office space in the 50 S. Main Street building in downtown Akron. The space brings back many memories for me because I remember visiting the building to shop and dine when it was Orangerie Mall. I look forward to creating new memories in that building. We anticipate moving into our space by fall 2026.
This past month, we spent considerable time in Wayne County connecting with Marshallville Village, Economic Development Council, and Mental Health and Recovery Board leaders.
In Summit County, we met with Grace House leaders and learned how their organization is one of few nonprofits in the nation that provide hospice care to unhoused individuals and to those who have no one to care for them. We met with Victim Assistance leadership to learn how they continue to serve as the blueprint for how local communities serve and support victims through traumatic situations.
We also met with Embracing Futures, the only nonprofit entity within our five-county region that helps low-income children and youth access necessary orthodontic care. And we appreciated touring the Akron YMCA and learning how their new mobile app pilot will help individuals access virtual wellness programs.
Trailhead will continue to have conversations with local Jobs and Family Services leaders to monitor how the new Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility changes which went into effect in March are affecting low-income populations across our market. We will explore how Trailhead could partner with others to ensure these populations maintain their food assistance benefit.
Through all of our conversations, we are learning how we could better help individuals and families access vital health and wellness services in a more meaningful way. There are a couple of counties where we would like to schedule additional conversations to deepen our understanding of community assets and needs.
We welcome nonprofit leaders who manage youth and older adult wellness programs in Stark and Medina counties to reach out to us to schedule a community conversation.
As spring unfolds, I hope you can pause to enjoy the season’s renewal with longer days, fresh air, and an opportunity to connect with neighbors and loved ones.
Tracy L. Carter, President and CEO