The John R. Oishei Foundation has reexamined their mission and programs over the past year, and has a new strategic plan focusing on building the economic strength of the Western New York area. Focusing on neighborhoods and helping organizations to build new alliances to best serve the residents of each neighborhood are among their freshly identified goals. Robert Gioia, President and Paul Hogan and Blythe Merrill, program officers of the Foundation described the renewed vision in familiar terms.
After a year spent with leaders in the field of targeted philanthropy, the mission of the organization was revitalized, with the primary addition of the words “economic vitality.” So the statement now reads, “The John R. Oishei Foundation strives to be a catalyst for change to enhance economic vitality and the quality of life for the Buffalo Niagara region.”
The John R. Oishei Foundation is actually the largest foundation in Western New York, providing the most significant support through grants to not for profit organizations in the area. John R. Oishei established the foundation in 1940, and first named it the Julia R. and Estelle L. Foundation. He was founded Trico Products Corporation in 1917 when he recognized the need for windshield wipers on motorcars. The assets of the foundation come from that company, his estate, and his son and grand daughter’s estates. Trico was Buffalo’s largest employer, and the foundation continues his commitment to this community. When John R. Oishei passed away, the foundation was renamed in his honor.
A thorough description of the new initiatives of the Oishei Foundation, as described by Robert Gioia, Paul Hogan and Blythe Merrill, are included in this pod cast.
In the spirit of the season, these three also provided us with some well-rounded holiday wishes for Buffalo Niagara. Mr. Gioia began, “I wish people would understand that change can be for the better. There are numerous communities that have embraced change and you’ve seen the difference, whether it be the waterfront in Cleveland, the waterfront in Baltimore…If we can do our job right, we hopefully can affect some change”
Mr. Hogan hopes that Buffalo be able to recognize the significant improvements that have already been accomplished, “My Christmas wish would be that people stop and look around and take a breath, and look at what really has happened already, and look at the twenty, thirty, fifty projects…Over $2.5 billion has already been done in the central downtown core…with another couple of billion that is ready to go.” He went on, “If people accept that, they might start to think that this is a place that can grow and change.”
Blythe Merrill offers the Christmas wish, “That this community be open to developing new relationships and having those broader conversations…New alliances are being created, and that is when the synergy of a community can really grow.”
“I hope there can be a shared vision for the waterfront development that really has the community and public access at heart. I hope that there is a shared planned for neighborhood development that really looks at the rich architecture of this whole community and is the very foundation on which those neighborhoods were created, and I hope that we find a way to look at and recognize that the small efforts are what matter.” Merrill points out, “The silver bullet projects don’t do anything, and historically have not proven to be the saving graces for any community. Things like a casino in downtown Buffalo are not where it’s at, and I hope that we have an opportunity in this next year to look forward to projects that are really going to be at a community level that we can all work on together to affect positive change.”
To learn more about the John R. Oishei foundation, check out this pod cast, or visit their website at www.oisheifdt.org.