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Our mission is to achieve positive change through the generosity of donors, now and for generations to come. 

We aspire to be recognized as Northeast Alabama’s trusted philanthropic leader that champions thriving communities and improves lives through collaborative partnerships.

The Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama is a qualified 501(c)(3) public charity recognized by the Attorney General of Alabama and the Internal Revenue Service. CFNEA is one of more than 800 community foundations in the United States organized to promote and build permanent endowments on behalf of their regional area. CFNEA serves nine counties throughout northeast Alabama - Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, DeKalb, Etowah, Randolph, St. Clair, and Talladega.

The Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama (CFNEA) has its genesis in the generosity of Susie Parker Stringfellow, who in 1920 willed her home at 301 East 18th Street plus approximately eight (8) acres of land to serve as a nonprofit hospital subject to a life estate. Upon her husband’s (Mr. William W. Stringfellow) death in 1932, the property and estate assets were placed in the Susie Parker Stringfellow Charitable Trust.  Initially, Susie’s former home served as a clinic.  Subsequently, the home was razed and the Stringfellow Memorial Hospital began operating on the site in 1938.  From 1995 to 1997, the hospital entered into a management agreement with Health Management Associates (HMA). On January 24, 1997, the hospital entered into a 30-year management agreement with HMA and placed the capitalized assets into the Stringfellow Health Trust.  As the successor organization, the new trust was considered a private foundation.

Rush Jordan, a hospital trustee, and subsequently a trustee of the Stringfellow Health Trust, was very familiar with the Dayton Foundation in Ohio. He recommended the Trust emulate Mrs. Stringfellow’s philanthropic spirit by promoting and enabling other individuals to give back to the community.
 

On August 3, 2004, the board of trustees changed the name from Calhoun County Community Foundation (CCCF) to Community Foundation of Calhoun County (CFCC).  On October 1, 2008, both CFCC and HMA terminated the management agreement and entered into a new forty-year management agreement. On January 15, 2009, the Board changed the name once again from Community Foundation of Calhoun County (CFCC) to Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama (CFNEA) and responded to the growing number of funds in adjacent counties by expanding the geographical scope of the Foundation to include Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, DeKalb, Etowah, Randolph, St. Clair and Talladega counties.  With the approval of the Circuit Court of Calhoun County, the Office of the Attorney General, and the IRS, the Trust was granted permission on October 1, 1999, to transfer and irrevocably assign its assets (just over $13 million) to the Community Foundation of Calhoun County (CFCC).  Thus the Trust’s private foundation status was converted to a qualified 501(c)(3) public charity status.  The Trust operates in corporate form.  The transferred assets became a component fund of the Community Foundation but nonetheless continued its health and medical care objectives.
 

The Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama is one of more than 800 community foundations in the United States that promote and build permanent endowments on behalf of their regions. Our mission is to achieve positive change through the generosity of donors, now and for generations to come.
 

Since its inception, over 220 funds have been added to the Community Foundation. Each fund has its own charitable purpose and awards either grants or scholarships according to the donor’s intent. Generally, gifts or contributions are made to the CFNEA through donations, wills, bequests, or trusts; however, many individuals or families begin a fund during their lifetime and designate all or a portion of their estate to maintain the fund in perpetuity.