Ellen Ford has been a loyal donor to the Mercy Health Foundation — Mahoning Valley for more than 20 years. But her connection to health care goes far beyond.

Ellen started her career as a nurse, and found her passion in community health. She and her team established many of the early community health initiatives in the Youngstown area.

“We built wonderful community health programs,” said Ellen. “Our own Foundation provided consistent support year after year, and that is what helped us to be able to grow as we did.”

When she retired, Ellen was still leading the health system’s community health initiatives in Youngstown. Some of the programs she helped to start and that are still helping people today include Resource Mothers, Stepping Out, and the Hispanic Health Program, to name but a few. She is proud to continue supporting them through her donations to the Foundation.

“I see the breadth of their commitment throughout the community,” Ellen says. “They target and support the true needs.”