Huston Foundation CEO Charles L. Huston, III at The Lukens Executive Office Building. After four decades away from the city, the foundation will return to Coatesville in September.
COATESVILLE — The Huston Foundation announced this week that it would be returning to the city this fall after more than four decades away from the city.
The Foundation was originally formed on December 27, 1957 in the corporate offices of the former Lukens Steel Company by the late Charles Lukens Huston, Jr. and his sister, Ruth Huston. This move represents a long route back to the original office occupied nearly 41 years ago. Of interesting note, and not scripted, the old office closed September 17, 1974, and the new office is scheduled to open September 21, 2015. The Coatesville site will be key as new staff members will be located there, foundation visitors be welcomed there and most importantly, the foundation will be putting down real roots in the community, in which it serves.
Following Huston’s retirement as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Lukens Steel Company, the Foundation moved to Huston’s residence in Villanova. Then, with the death of Huston and his sister, Ruth, only a week apart in October of 1982, Huston’s widow moved the Foundation’s offices to her residence in Bryn Mawr. The Foundation was subsequently moved to a business office in Conshohocken in 1991. When Huston’s widow passed away, the family relocated the Foundation to the West Valley Corporate Center, Wayne in 2005, where it remained for the last 10 years.
Finally, the family has completed the circuitous route back to the former Lukens Steel Executive Office Building, which their sister organization, the Stewart Huston Charitable Trust, purchased and has occupied since 2000. The building is in the Lukens National Historic District, which is also home to the National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum. The Huston Foundation will be occupying the same suite of offices, which Charles Lukens Huston, Jr., occupied back in 1957. These offices will remain the permanent home of The Huston Foundation. The relocation to Coatesville, alongside the Stewart Huston Charitable Trust, places total Huston family philanthropic and community benevolence under one roof.
Two beneficiaries of the Huston Foundation include the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc., a forum for political discussion and PANO (the Pennsylvania Association of Non-Profit Organizations). It was Charles L. Huston, III, current President and Chief Operating Officer of The Huston Foundation (and son to HF founder, Charles Lukens Huston, Jr.,) who made a suggestion to the group. After attending a brown bag luncheon at the Delaware Valley Council of (non-profit) Agencies, he was befuddled as to why Pennsylvania had two such agencies in the state. He observed that Delaware Valley should join with their Pittsburgh brethren and become one organization, with one clear mission. In time, PANO was formed, which became the one, strong guiding light to many member non-profits in Pennsylvania.
The Huston Foundation, a regional, national and international philanthropy, is committed to serving Protestant Evangelical Christian needs regionally, nationally and internationally and Secular purposes regionally, through its grant making, as an investment in humanitarian needs. The charitable interests of both founders are reflected in the Foundation’s overall mission and more specifically in the Protestant Evangelical Christian and Secular mission statements. It is important to note that while the Foundation operates as one non-profit corporate entity, distributions are divided between Protestant Evangelical Christian and Secular organizations.
The new address for The Foundation is: The Huston Foundation, 50 S. 1st Avenue, Coatesville, PA 19320. This move will be effective September 21, 2015.
