Skip to content

Our mission is to serve women and families in Athens and the surrounding Appalachian counties by providing them with quality health services, preventative care, testing and health education.

We plan to invest in quality healthcare for our region’s underserved women and families to provide a reliable foundation for a more vibrant future. The impact will be seen when healthy women and families can trust their access to reliable, affordable healthcare in our region, enabling them to focus attention on other aspects of their lives.

The Appalachian Women’s Health Fund is in its initial stages of fundraising, seeking the support the fund needs to reach its goal of granting $25,000 to the region annually.

Women are at the heart of our Appalachian Ohio communities. Neighbors, leaders, wives, mothers and daughters, women are also a central part of the workforce, which makes women’s health vital to the health of our whole region.

Yet women and families in Athens and the surrounding Appalachian counties do not have adequate access to quality health services, preventative care, testing or health education. The supply of primary care physicians in Appalachian Ohio is 25 percent lower than the national average and 30 percent lower than the rest of Ohio. Our region has an above-average uninsured population, and we see that our region’s people have a rate of premature death 28 percent higher than the national average. The need for quality health care in Appalachian Ohio is great.


The Appalachian Women’s Health Fund (AWHF), an endowment managed through the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, is committed to serving women’s health in our region. The fund plans to invest in quality healthcare for our region’s underserved women and families to provide a reliable foundation for a more vibrant future. The impact will be seen when healthy women and families can trust their access to reliable, affordable healthcare in our region, enabling them to focus attention on other aspects of their lives.

In its earliest days, the AWHF will support the work of Planned Parenthood’s Athens Health Clinic. Based in Athens and serving 23 counties, this clinic plays a vital role in providing affordable and accessible healthcare to at-risk populations. Twenty-nine percent of the clinic’s patients live below the poverty line; 89 percent are 18-34 years old. This clinic serves thousands of women and families (21 percent of the patients are men) across the region. Supporting the work of this clinic is a first major step toward building up the health of our region’s underserved and at-risk populations.

As the AWHF grows so will its grantmaking reach, expanding beyond this initial focus to include additional nonprofits, programs and initiatives focused on supporting women’s health. All gifts to the AWHF will be invested for long-term growth, so that the fund’s mission can be protected.

Gifts today will not only make a difference in the near future but will create tomorrow’s grants to reach across generations. Health is the foundation of prosperity, opportunity and quality of life. To lift up the women of Appalachian Ohio, it is vital that we invest now in their health. Together, through the Appalachian Women’s Health Fund, we can invest in the future of our region, our economy, our families and our children.

Support the Appalachian Women's Health Fund

Gifts to the Appalachian Women’s Health Fund are tax-deductible and can be made in many ways, including cash, bequests, stock, real estate, royalties, insurance beneficiaries and qualified charitable distributions from IRAs.

To mail your donation, please designate the fund and mail to the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, 35 Public Square, Nelsonville, OH 45764.

Donations can be made online by designating the Appalachian Women’s Health Fund when donating.