In 1936, Kenneth W. Ford pursued a vision with a single sawmill in the southern Oregon community of Roseburg. From his initiative and tenacity grew Roseburg Forest Products Co., one of the largest, family-owned wood products manufacturers in the nation. The same ingenuity and capacity for hard work that brought Mr. Ford success in the business world also characterized his commitment to "building community."

Hallie E. Ford was a teacher. Like Kenneth, she believed in a complete and continuing education. Hallie was also a painter, and in later years a patron of the visual arts, leaving a legacy of support to the Oregon “arts ecology.”

In 1957, Kenneth and Hallie Ford established a then modest foundation to give back to the timber communities of southwest Oregon. It grew in size, scope, and geography to become The Ford Family Foundation in 1996, with its main office in Roseburg, Oregon, and its scholarship office in Eugene, Oregon.

MISSION
Successful Citizens and Vital Rural Communities

CORE VALUES

Integrity	Promoting and acknowledging principled behavior
Stewardship	Responsibility to give back and accountability for resources and results
Respect	Valuing all individuals
Independence	Encouraging self-reliance and initiative
Community	Working together for positive change

VISION STATEMENT
By 2020 we will see across our region adaptive, self-reliant individuals and rural communities working together for positive change.

The Ford Family Foundation Grant Programs make grants to public charities that predominantly benefit small communities in rural Oregon and Siskiyou County, California.

The Ford Institute for Community Building helps rural citizens in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California, create vital communities through training, small grants, and resources.

The Ford Family Foundation Scholarship Programs offer assistance to residents of rural and urban Oregon and Siskiyou County, California, to pursue higher education.

For our Grant Programs and the Ford Institute, we define “rural” as communities under 30,000 in population in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California, not adjacent to or part of a metropolitan area.

The Scholarship Programs offer assistance to residents of rural and urban Oregon and Siskiyou County, California.

Organizations that strive to promote change benefit from a “theory of change” (a phrase used by evaluators) that describes how change occurs. The theory guides program development and provides questions for evaluation. Our theory starts and ends with the individual and shows why the two elements of our mission are important and how they are related. [Read More]