Voices from the Valley: A podcast of the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region

Today we’re doing an entire podcast episode about podcasts! Why do people like them so much, and how are organizations using this audio platform to tell their stories in a whole new way? And what do you need to do to start your own podcast? It’s easier than you might think! 

What is a podcast? It is simply an audio tool that people and organizations can use to tell their stories and inspire people to think, dream, engage and act.

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Art truly does help shape a community in so many different ways. Performing arts in particular can provide a platform to celebrate traditions, customs, and stories, fostering a sense of identity and pride among community members. A community rich in arts can foster economic development too, and give tourists a reason to visit a venue and boost the vitality of the region. Today's episode is a second part of a 2-part series on arts m...

Did you know that engaging children in arts activities can teach team-building skills and provide a positive and constructive outlet and build their self-confidence? Here at the Community Foundation, we are dedicated to supporting art activities that bring our communities together and provide creative opportunities for people of all ages.

Research shows arts-rich communities stimulate innovative thinking, recruit and retain residen...

Finding quality childcare in Wisconsin is a challenge, with long waitlists. It's also expensive. Many parents say they are paying more than their monthly mortgage or rent to have their children cared for while they work. And for single parents, it's a difficult road to navigate.

If you don’t have young children in your life, you may be thinking this topic doesn’t apply to you – but it does! Nearly nine in 10 working parents say ch...

Do you know how our youth are doing, as far as mental health and wellness? How can we in the Fox Valley help our teens, and prevent the things that can lead to anxiety or even a crisis? The answers are complex, and challenging.

There is no doubt our teens are in crisis – with pressures our older generations can’t even imagine, because it really is a new world – and Covid made it worse. According to the latest Youth Risk Behavior S...

Dental care is critical to a person's overall health, especially in children. But the pandemic and financial constraints have been barriers to families trying to access proper care, causing decreases in visits. Organizations like volunteer-driven Tri-County Dental help fill the gaps and meet thousands of students where they’re at, offering preventive care to avoid emergencies and keep students healthy and able to focus in school. 

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What is it like to learn your child has autism? And how do you find resources to give your child the best opportunities for learning and for experiencing all the joys and challenges life has in store?

In this episode we take some time to consider how we think about Autism, a developmental disability that affects the way a person communicates, thinks, and interacts with others and the world around them. People with autism experience...

In this episode we're discussing the number of refugees from other countries who have recently resettled here in the Fox Valley. What is life like for them, and how can our communities be welcoming to our new neighbors? Most of them come from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. Two years ago, we began to see many come through the Afghanistan evacuation program.  About 300 more refugees will resettle here by the ...

Imagine if all residents can live in a good home they can afford. Our region is composed of households across the income spectrum, and it's getting harder to find these homes.

High-quality, stable housing is central to the health and wellbeing of all families in our communities. A new Fox Cities and Greater Outagamie County Regional Housing Strategy was developed in 2022 as the result of a study done in our communities. Over the ne...

What happens when we uncover lost stories and tell them in new ways? And how might shared experiences, between people who are different from one another, bring us closer together? In today’s very special episode we’re going to take you back to a story that happened over 50 years ago. It's the story of an exchange of Black and White high school students in Wisconsin in 1966, right in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement. 

Black s...

In many rural areas of the Fox Valley region, there are often serious gaps in services such as transportation, healthcare, and other services meant to help individuals and families that might be struggling economically.  Clintonville's Compassionate Connection Center, a nonprofit we partner with here at the Community Foundation, is working to bridge those gaps. In this episode we learn how an entire comm...

We’ve probably all faced an emotional crisis. Something that rocks our world and sends us into a feeling of despair. Just in the last two years alone, people have experienced increased feelings of anxiety, depression, and uncertainty. It's that collective trauma of living in a world that is no longer predictable.

The growing need for emotional support is urgent. In this episode we’re going to talk about a program in the Fox Valley ...

The Fox Valley is renowned for our outdoor activities, from lakes and parks to more than 340 miles of trails for use year round. But many people might be surprised to learn that not every member of our community feels safe or welcomed in our outdoor spaces, especially people who are considered historically marginalized, such as people of color, people who speak different languages, people with disabilities, and people who identify ...

People of all walks of life have been impacted by the Community Foundation since its founding in 1986. We hear their stories, and we want you to hear them too!

Our Voices from the Valley: A Podcast of the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region podcast launched in September, 2021, and we've come a long way in telling the eye-opening, heartstring-pulling stories people and nonprofits in our community have shared with us. 30 e...

The Building for Kids Children's Museum opened in downtown Appleton in 1992 at the site of the former Prange's building. Thirty years later, the Community Foundation is honored to celebrate being a part of "BFK's" history! Generous gifts from donors with funds within the Community Foundation have supported the museum over the years.

The museum receives around 120,000 visitors annually from all over the world, and is a cultural gem ...

"Period Poverty" is a startling reality in the Fox Valley. Did you know that a lack of access to menstrual health products can cause students with periods to miss or be late to class, or feel anxious about period care? Menstrual products are expensive in the U.S., which makes it difficult for people, especially teens, to afford period products. Instead, they may rely on what is supplied by school districts and stored within a schoo...

Today we discuss the Fox Valley’s changing workforce and some new initiatives in the works to make sure we’re building and retaining a thriving and diverse workforce. There are lots of job openings, but we're learning that not everyone who wants to work is able to access the jobs we know are open right now.

Covid has impacted some things, like hybrid office schedules. How do we navigate those, while attracting new talent to our are...

Did you know that black women in our area are five times as likely to die in childbirth? That's according to the state's Department of Health and Human Services.

Factors that lead to these life-threatening disparities include the quality of health care, chronic conditions and structural racism and bias, according to the CDC. In Brown County, Black women receive the lowest rates of first-trimester health care and are most likely to ...