Windham Fund awards grants to 17 nonprofits with rural initiatives

The 2026 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 $413,249 to 17 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.

2026 Windham Grant Recipients

1. Callahan County Aging Services – Food for seniors and disabled in Callahan County

2. Children's Advocacy Center of Greater West Texas, Inc. – Program expansion (for victim and trauma services) into Brown and Coleman Counties

3. City of De Leon – New community playground

4. Comanche Public Library Foundation – Support for furnishings of new community library

5. Compassion Counseling Center, Inc. – Support for affordable mental health services

6. Cornerstone Christian Educational Endeavors – Funds to provide free books and literacy programming for children

7. Hamlin Municipal Development District – Support for Phase 1 of a community splash pad

8. Merkel ISD FFA – Solar panels and a rainwater harvesting system for a student-managed greenhouse

9. National WASP WWII Museum – Program development for rural STEM education

10. Operation Stockshow – Final funds to purchase a 20-ft. bumper-pull stock trailer

11. Opportunity Camp Big Country – Support for at-risk children to attend a one-week summer camp, followed by an ongoing mentorship program during the academic year

12. Penatuhkah Comanche Trails Partnership – Program development to preserve Comanche cultural and historic sites while developing heritage tourism in west central Texas

13. Raising Youth Services – Program support for at-risk youth

14. Science Mill – Program development for agriculturally focused STEM education opportunities  

15. Sweetwater Municipal Auditorium Board – Support for a fine arts and education experience for all 1,500 Sweetwater ISD students

16. Tarleton State University – Pilot program for student leadership and career pathways, ranch management,  and workforce skills training

17. Texas Trails Council BSA – Program expansion in rural communities   

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.