The people of southwestern Pennsylvania are indebted to the inspiration of Cordelia S. May. She founded the Colcom Foundation in 1996 with the intent of making the environment and hence the lives of the citizens of that part of the state better. She provided further funding at her death in 2005. Today the foundation continues to function with her intent in mind.

The counties that benefit from the Colcom Foundation include Allegheny (home of Pittsburgh), Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland. All of these areas reap the vision of Cordelia S. May.

The foundation’s impact can be found in three areas. Those include carrying capacity, local environment, and local community. The first relates to the ability of the land to support and sustain a growing population. The other two tie into the first impact. The environment can only support so many people, and the foundation promotes efforts to balance the two areas.

The Colcom Foundation’s impact on the local environment is felt in the preservation of open land that is beyond the scope of development. The residents of the above counties deserve to have land kept in its natural state for generations to follow and enjoy. This includes land in the Hollow Oak Land Trust which emphasizes the Pittsburgh Airport Corridor.

There is also a Westmoreland Land Trust which is dedicated to preserving the local environment of Westmoreland County, one of the counties in the Colcom Foundation area.

The impact on the local community includes Arts and Culture. It also focuses on taking abandoned land and making it useful for the benefits of all the citizens.

A summary of the Colcom Foundation would be to say that it focuses on making life better for the residents of the above counties in southwestern Pennsylvania. That is a lasting legacy of Cordelia S. May. See related link for more information.

Find more information about Colcom on https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/311479839