Windham Fund awards grants to 18 nonprofits with rural initiatives

The 2025 grant cycle of the Dr. Paula Windham Fund for Education and Community Development, a fund established at the Community Foundation of Abilene (CFA), has awarded $264,750 to 18 surrounding area nonprofits.

The Windham Fund was established to support special projects, capacity building, and capital projects to build on and ensure a higher quality of life. The Windham Fund enables the Foundation to advance rural grantmaking, particularly for remote communities in the greater West-Central Texas region.

Specifically, communities in counties within a 150-mile radius of Oplin, including Brown, Callahan, Coleman, Comanche, Eastland, Fisher, Haskell, Jones, Kent, Knox, Mitchell, Nolan, Runnels, Scurry, Shackelford, Stephens, Stonewall, Taylor, and Throckmorton.

2025 Windham Grant Recipients

1. 89.5 KACU – “West Texas Roots” oral history rural engagement program

2. Callahan County Aging Services – Two-door commercial freezer to enhance food storage capacity at its facility in Baird

3. Cisco College – Support for Campus Recreation Area Project

4. Citizens EMS – RapidFlow Infusion Project for emergency medical care in Callahan County.

5. City of Snyder – Public green space in downtown

6. Coleman County Center for Senior Citizens – Capital campaign support

7. Concho Valley Community Action Agency – Community Care Coordination program support

8. Cornerstone Christian Educational Endeavors – Launch of early childhood initiative for Nolan County children ages 1 through 3rd grade

9. Cross Plains Public Library – Accessibility and safety building/room improvements

10. Developing DeLeon Today, Inc.  –  Two murals in downtown DeLeon

11. Frontera Healthcare Network – Brady Clinic expansion

12. Merkel ISD – Greenhouse construction for FFA and agriculture students

13. Museum of the West Texas Frontier – “History Alive” educational program support

14. National WASP WWII Museum – Full-time education manager program support

15. Olney Community Library and Arts Center – Interior space renovation

16. Shackelford County Community Resource Center – Support for Emergency Assistance Program

17. Snyder Community Resource Center – Basic need assistance for residents in Mitchell and Scurry counties

18. West Central Texas Council of Governments – Updates to 10-county FEMA-required Hazard Mitigation Plans

About Dr. Paula Windham

Dr. Windham was a pillar of the Oplin community. She was known to be a trailblazer, a ranch woman, scholar, and woman of faith. Learn more about Dr. Windham and how the fund extends the impact on nonprofit causes beyond Abilene.

About the Foundation’s rural grantmaking

Grants from the Paula A. Windham Fund for Education and Community Development fund support a range of rural nonprofit initiatives serving the counties within a 150-mile radius of Oplin, including: Brown, Callahan, Coleman, Comanche, Eastland, Fisher, Haskell, Jones, Kent, Knox, Mitchell, Nolan, Runnels, Scurry, Shackelford, Stephens, Stonewall, Taylor, and Throckmorton.