The Center for a Vital Community’s roots lie with Sheridan’s capable, dedicated, and generous citizens.

In 1998, the Homer A. and Mildred S. Scott Foundation envisioned a center that would “serve as a resource for the Sheridan community by bringing issues of importance into focus so that the community could make informed and thoughtful decisions.” At the same time, a citizen group called Sheridan Plus conducted a study to pinpoint the characteristics that make our community special as well as means for preserving them. Combining these two initiatives built momentum for the inception of what would become the Center for a Vital Community.

Public meetings involving community leaders and people from a wide variety of backgrounds resulted in substantial support for the endeavor. The Scott Foundation, seeing Sheridan College as a natural home for a “healthy community center,” discussed such an arrangement with the institution’s administration, which agreed. By 2000, with an advisory board, bylaws, and partnerships with the college and its foundation in place, the center’s backers began drawing in additional funders for a three-year financial commitment.

Their efforts paid off. In 2001, the Center for a Vital Community at Sheridan College opened its doors. A relatively stable start-up operating budget allowed staff to immediately begin crafting programs that would engage citizens to strengthen our community through four primary avenues: leadership, communication, partnerships, and experiences.

Since then, the CVC has enjoyed considerable success, benefiting the Sheridan Community in numerous and often immeasurable ways. The center’s original founders, pleased with these outcomes, remain committed to their role.