211 is an information and referral/crisis program of Pathways of Central Ohio. When someone dials 211 or texts their zip code to 898211, they have access to free, confidential support 24/7. Trained 211 staff connect residents in 15 counties to essential resources, including food, housing, mental health support, and crisis intervention. This accredited program is the gateway to navigating social, human, and government services with ease.
While 211 began serving Knox County in 2008, there remains a need to build awareness and utilization to ensure people are connected with services and support as soon as possible. With the rollout of newly wrapped Knox County Transit buses, a partnership formed in 2025 to promote 211 on public transit buses used on key Mount Vernon main routes. Combined with additional targeted marketing, this initiative has contributed to growing awareness and increased use of this vital community resource.
The goal of this project was to plan for future needs of both of the YMCA of Mount Vernon facilities in alignment with the organization’s strategic plan. Specific to the Sports Center, improvements were made to prepare for growth in usage and participation. A new urethane floor was installed, replacing the well-worn original floor, as a significant first step toward creating better user experiences. Planning for facility updates continues to ensure the YMCA remains on a strong path toward providing and maintaining high-quality services in the community for years to come.
The ReStore provides services needed to much of Knox County. Averaging more than a thousand donations annually, with more than 250 of those being acquired with an aging truck, the maintenance was becoming significant. Donations to the ReStore offer the Knox County community an opportunity to redistribute unneeded home improvement items. These items are then sold to families, giving them new life. Funds raised by the ReStore are used by Habitat for Humanity of Knox County to provide families opportunities for home ownership and home repairs. With grant funds, the new box truck provides the ReStore with the engine that drives sales and allows Habitat for Humanity of Knox County to sustain its service to the community at the W. Chestnut Street location in Mount Vernon.
The vibrancy of downtown Mount Vernon’s Central Business District has been enhanced through a long-term historic renovation effort. The Woodward Opera House, located at the intersection of South Main and West Vine streets, is considered America’s oldest standing authentic 19th-century theater, thanks to the efforts of the Woodward Development Corporation. Regular entertainment is presented by the Woodward Opera House Conservancy in the opera house, in the recital hall and in the black box theater. The Ariel Foundation has partnered with both community organizations on multiple grants. These have supported restoration and the launch of entertaining arts-based experiences that provide meaningful interactions and impact the local economy.
Over the years, grants for equipment and maintenance have been made available to a unique community asset, the Kokosing Gap Trail, a 14-mile-long recreational trail built on a former Pennsylvania Railroad right-of-way alongside the Kokosing River. It begins in Mount Vernon and winds to Danville via Gambier and Howard and is part of the Ohio to Erie Trail. Most recently, a railway semaphore was restored as a part of an antique railroad display located along the trail in the Village of Gambier. Semaphore signals revolutionized and standardized the railroad signal industry, providing a superior method of transmitting track conditions to the engineer. The Ariel Foundation is pleased to partner with Kokosing Gap Trail in refurbishing this significant piece of railroad history.
The Ariel Foundation partnered with the Knox County Commissioners to purchase, renovate, and repair the former Central School Building, originally built in 1939. The 2018 renovation provided a highly visible and accessible location on E. Chestnut Street for Knox County Veteran Services as a part of the development of Knox County’s campus of services.
Bringing together all ages to explore science, technology, and human interaction through play, SPI has been a regular recipient of support from The Ariel Foundation. SPI offers opportunities for playfully exploring the tools of science in a family-friendly space that fosters community and intergenerational interaction.
The challenges of poor physical health, mental health issues, addiction, and lack of resources are a reality for all communities. The Winter Sanctuary, located in Mount Vernon, provides support and advocacy for those experiencing homelessness. The Ariel Foundation continues to support this important program as it provides a safe, warm place where guests can stay while working to rebuild their lives by addressing the underlying issues of their homelessness.
Mount Vernon Nazarene University is home to a premier Soccer and Lacrosse Complex that is being used by youth, high school, and collegiate athletes since 2018. The project was a community collaboration that embodies the power of partnership. The complex enables Mount Vernon High School teams to use a lighted turf field for practice and competitions. Additionally, it includes five full-size grass fields that can be reconfigured into multiple U10, U12, and U14 competition spaces. The Community Fields provide an attractive, high-quality, permanent home for Knox County youth soccer programs, including The YMCA and Mount Vernon Youth Soccer Association (Mount Vernon Sting). The Soccer and Lacrosse Complex is a source of pride for MVNU, the City of Mount Vernon and Knox County. The addition of the CH4 Stadium in 2020 expanded seating and added restrooms, locker rooms, and concessions for the stadium and the surrounding community fields.
The organization’s mission to energize and strengthen an authentic and unique downtown experience is boosted by grant dollars. Experience Mount Vernon’s Beautification and Care Program focuses on the seasonal upkeep of the Central Business District. Weeding, spraying, pruning, mulching, controlling litter, and maintaining the overall health of vegetation benefits community members and visitors with an aesthetically pleasing Mount Vernon.
This project brings a fresh look and feel to a Northwest neighborhood area in Mount Vernon. This 2020 revitalization project contributes to a master plan for improvements.
Shellmar Park, on the corner of Marion and Madison streets, includes a playground, basketball courts, picnic shelter, parking area, grills for community cookouts, and green space with trees. The people who live in the area are within walking distance of the park.
The park occupies a former two-acre Shellmar Corporation parking lot, which had been vacant since the company left in the 1990s. The 27-acre property behind it, which used to house the Shellmar manufacturing plant, was split into nine three-acre lots, which were then sold for “industrial manufacturing purposes,” bringing jobs and investment back into that part of the city.
Ariel Foundation is happy to partner with the City of Mount Vernon in making the park a key part of the city’s long-term plan to bring economic growth and prosperity back to this part of town.
This 2022 independent senior living development in Mount Vernon is a 96-unit community located on 60 acres just north of the main Ohio Eastern Star facility. Pine Hill Independent Senior Living is the only not-for-profit continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Knox County. This project consists of a building with 40 one- and two-bedroom apartments, surrounded by 56 senior patio homes grouped into three- and four-unit cottages. Some condominiums have an attached garage. They range in size from 800 square feet to 1,200 square feet. All units are rentals. The neighborhood development includes walking paths and a fire pit and bbq area. The main apartment facility offers restaurant-style dining in the evenings and bistro-style dining during the day.
Since 2010, when The Ariel Foundation was founded, more than 6,000 trees have been planted in Mount Vernon in partnership with the City of Mount Vernon’s Shade Tree Commission. The foundation takes pride in this special partnership, helping the city live up to the community’s Tree City USA designation, providing lasting benefits for multiple generations.
The Tree City Partnership (TCP) program identifies safe, welcoming locations for trees. Because these trees are planted on property owners’ lawns, they are protected from adverse street effects. They are given to homeowners to encourage them to become caretakers of their own tree canopy and to be responsible for the life of the tree. The individual property owner serves as a tree-watering volunteer for their tree(s), assisting with city-wide tree life cycle management.
Knox County Special Olympics provides opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to experience the joy of competing in sports. Because the organization is experiencing exceptional growth in its athlete enrollments, it has expanded program offerings. Part of this expansion was the addition of Team Basketball and Team Volleyball. Even though venues for practices and games were made available through community allies, many did not have scoreboards. Special Olympics sought funding support to purchase a portable scoreboard for Knox County’s program.
Downtown Mount Vernon is a hub of activity during the winter months. Multiple shows, events, attractions, restaurants, and shopping choices draw visitors and community members to the well-lit streets of the Central Business District. Thousands of warm white lights illuminate South Main Street, complementing Mount Vernon’s Public Square. The Ariel Foundation has assisted with this project since 2016.
Since 2012–three years before its official opening–Ariel-Foundation Park has been supported through significant investment from The Ariel Foundation. From land acquisition and demolition to structural preservation and enhancements, this world-class park embodies stories of the transformative power of community partnerships. In more recent years, the Ariel-Foundation Park Conservancy has assisted the City of Mount Vernon in marketing and programming this amazing community asset. Staffing for park programs and rentals, further development of community partner relationships, and financial assistance for strategic projects have been made possible by the Friends of the Conservancy and grant funding, including support of the Knox County Foundation and The Ariel Foundation.
All this is to ensure that park visitors can enjoy a healthy, safe environment to picnic, to kayak, to walk, to fish, to climb, to read, to bike, to bird, to meditate, to explore, and to gather.
While local organizations led the renovation of the CA&C and the B&O depots, critical infrastructure projects remained to be completed on these historic train depots, owned by the City of Mount Vernon. The Ariel Foundation partnered to support the CA&C’s roof replacement, using historically appropriate clay tiles. Additional funding addressed ADA access and parking for Knox County’s Visitor Center located at that site, now a part of American Heritage Park. Most recently, a nine-foot bronze Statue of Liberty was installed. It was made from the final maquette (plaster form) used by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi in planning for his creation of what was originally known as Liberty Enlightening the World. Lady Liberty welcomes Heart of Ohio Trail travelers to Mount Vernon’s beautiful downtown.