The Martin Foundation, Inc
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The Martin Foundation is a non-profit, community-based corporation established by Dr. Angela Martin in memory of her mother, Catherine Farley Martin, who was an educator and an author. The Foundation was launched in 1996 at a memorial service held at the old Martin Theatre in Dublin, Georgia.
The Foundation applied for and received its initial 501c3 status in 2002. In 2003, the Foundation held its first annual event. A board of directors governs the Foundation. Each board member is a noted leader and community advocate. The Foundation provides scholarships to graduating high school seniors in the areas of education, health and medicine, and the environmental sciences. In addition to having an annual fund-raiser where scholarships are distributed to the graduates, the Foundation has designed and implemented the city’s only community-based medically oriented mentoring program, called the Scientific Shadows Pilot Program. The program was established primarily to stimulate students from Anniston High School to pursue careers in health and medicine. However, the program mentors other high school students, as well as college and post-graduate students in the health field. The Foundation’s activities are supported by public funds, private donations, and national and federal grants.
OUR STATEMENTS
The vision of the organization is to support initiatives involving the health, education, and well being of children, including disadvantaged children.
The mission of the foundation is to teach, train, and provide financial assistance to students who intend to pursue careers in education, the environmental sciences, and medicine within the continental United States.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The Foundation piloted the Scientific Shadowing Project in Anniston. Through its efforts 20 disadvantaged students were placed with area physicians and dentists for an enriching life experience while in high school and college. Sixteen of the 20 students received scholarships from the Martin Foundation to complete post-graduate and graduate studies in medicine, education, and nursing.
In 2008, the Foundation was the recipient of a national grant from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The REACH or Restoring Exercise to Anniston’s Children’s Health was a successful intergenerational fitness/nutrition program serving the community in partnership with the Calhoun County Health Department and the Anniston Parks and Recreation Department. Forty-eight adults and children who attended the program demonstrated significant weight loss, learned new sports, and reported developing a more positive outlook on life.
USDA Project: In June 2007, the Martin Foundation was awarded a grant by the West Anniston Foundation to screen children and adults for asthma and train them on the use of office spirometry and individual home peak flow meters in the Anniston Housing Authority, which is located in the inner city of Anniston on the west side. The VEASC program in a partnership with the USDA, and the
Alabama Cooperative Extension Agency was the recipient of a larger grant to screen children for asthma in each of the county school systems. This project was successfully completed February 2007 with approximately 500 children being screened and educated about asthma.
NIH Project: Dr. Martin was awarded co-principal investigator on a health disparities research grant funded by the National Institutes of Health. She is one of the youngest NIH investigators in America. The targeted audience for disseminating information about health disparities is the Talladega community, and partners include Talladega College and the Rocky Mount Baptist Church. The project started in 2007 and the final dispersion of funds will end in 2011. Over 800 citizens and students from the campus have participated and been impacted by the selected health topics discussed.
EPA Project: The Martin Foundation is currently in the final quarter of a major, national environmental health education grant, “Community Unity for a Healthy Life”. This is a collaborative project to help the residents of the city of Anniston and Calhoun County, Alabama, address the community’s exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls, lead, mercury, and environmental tobacco smoke. The project started in July 2008 and ended in March 2010. The project received an outstanding federal review in July 2009. The project continues to impact the community through the provision of educational power point presentations used to train and inform social agencies, health agencies, and schools about
environmental toxins and their mitigation.
Currently, the Martin Foundation is partnering with the prestigious West Anniston Foundation on the Healthy Homes Initiative, powered by the US Department of Housing and Development. On October 24, 2022, the project initiated its first Fall
Festival with a focus on educating the public on lead poisoning in a celebratory fashion. About 200 parents and children were in attendance. Participating partners included the Anniston High School Culinary Arts Department, the Alabama Department of Public Health, and the family of Anniston’s first minority obstetrician, Dr. James Daniel. The Pediatric Care Center hosted the event, and furnished the facilities as well as the hay ride.
Future plans for 2023 include formally accepting the invitation from Mayor Alberta McCrory to bring healthcare services to historic Hobson City. The Martin Foundation and Acclinate, a minority-owned clinical trials company will lead the project. Other local and national partners will mobilize the town of 700 families to engage in community participatory research, duplicating some of the salient features from the NIH project that Dr. Leonard Cole and Dr. Martin led at historic Talladega College. It is hoped that this project will spin off into multiple organized streams of research and examine the six classes of health needs in all
Donors
Board of Directors
“From the one room schoolhouse to military stations around the world, my parents joyfully demonstrated to me their service to diverse communities in numerous ways. Using my training in health, education and research, I continue to inspire scholarship, innovation, and implementation. Simply put, I want to help.”
Angela M. Martin
Executive Director
Dr. Adia Winfrey
Dr. Sheri Sturkie
Dr. George Crawford
Theletha Williams, RN
Tenza May
Honorable Mayor Alberta McCory