Home / About
About the foundation
Incorporated and recognized as a public charity in August 1968. Still rooted in Shelburne Falls. Now learning, in public, how a small New England foundation adapts to digital work.
Shelburne Falls sits on both banks of the Deerfield River, in the towns of Shelburne and Buckland, Franklin County, Massachusetts. It is a historic mill village of roughly 1,700 people, known for the Bridge of Flowers, the glacial potholes at Salmon Falls, a working Main Street, and a dense web of volunteer organizations.
Our legal name is Shelburne Falls Community House Incorporated. Public directories list the mailing address as P.O. Box 232, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370. Older filings have also referenced 19 South Maple Street. Correspondence now also reaches us at support@shelburnefallscommunityhouse.org.
West County is small enough that a grant or a workshop can still be felt on a single street.
To strengthen Shelburne Falls and neighboring West County communities by investing in gathering places, civic life, and practical skills — including digital literacy — so neighbors of every age can belong, learn, and earn.
A village where historic community roots and the digital era are not in competition. Residents can gather in person, keep local memory alive, and also use AI, publishing, design, video, and the open web well enough to make a living and to tell their own stories.
The foundation files Form 990-PF. Independent nonprofit data services summarize the organization as a 501(c)(3) classified under community improvement and capacity building. Activity codes on older IRS records include community deterioration work and gifts or grants to other organizations.
In recent years the foundation has held roughly $1.2–$1.4 million in assets, mostly invested, and has paid tens of thousands of dollars each year in grants. Reported officers in recent public filings include Gregg Gilmore, president; Jeffrey Hoyt, vice president; Paul Gifford, treasurer; and Patricia Anderson, secretary, with additional directors serving without compensation. The organization reports no employees.
Known grant recipients in a recent year included the Shelburne-Buckland Community Center (general support), Friends of Buckland Recreation Inc. (public recreation), and the Buckland Historical Society (historical preservation). Those relationships matter: this foundation has never pretended to replace the community center. It exists to help keep such rooms open.
Board composition can change. Names above are taken from publicly available Form 990-PF summaries and are offered for transparency, not as a current directory of private contact information.
A community house is a civic idea: a door that stays open, a hall that can be rented, a fridge that can be restocked, a recreation field that does not depend on one season of luck. That work is unfinished. We are not abandoning it.
Many of the same neighbors who use those rooms also need to invoice a client, edit a clip, publish a shop page, or use an AI assistant without surrendering judgment. Rural communities are often last in line for that training. We intend not to wait.
The brand itself is a reminder. The mark shows a building (home and gathering), a bridge and water (connection and history), flowers and leaves (community spirit and the river valley), and an open door (inclusivity). The website uses that same palette: community teal, growth green, connection gold, accent cream, and official black.
Returns are public. Anyone may review Form 990-PF through the IRS or independent nonprofit data projects.
