When I sat down for my conversation with Heather Gallant, Executive Director of the 577 Foundation in Perrysburg, Ohio, I knew it was going to be a lively one. Heather is a dynamic person with a great sense of humor. She leads a remarkable institution, and as you can see, we had a very good time speaking with each other:
But one of the most interesting things about the conversation for me was how it felt at times as though there was another person in the room with us. That’s how strongly the presence of Virginia Secor Stranahan is felt at the 577 Foundation, an institution she created by transforming her family home into a gift for the people of Northwest Ohio.
Virginia was an exceptionally well-born young woman who was raised with a sense of duty to those who did not share her unusual good fortune. She married into the entrepreneurial Stranahan family, legendary in Toledo as founders and leaders in the Champion Spark Plug Company. For decades, the Stranahans have funded cultural and humanitarian programs in the area, and their family estates have become public places enjoyed by thousands of people each year.
But there is something unique and rare about the 577 Foundation — and that something is the vision Virginia had for it.
Unlike the vast grounds of the Stranahan estate at Toledo’s western edge, 577 (the family’s name for their home, derived from its street address) was a comparatively modest former farm along the Maumee River. The larger Stranahan estate was unoccupied for years and narrowly escaped being turned into a luxury subdivision, becoming one of the area’s most popular Metroparks thanks to a citizen-led campaign.
In contrast, the 577 Foundation was entirely the brainchild of its former resident and her intentional, collaborative engagement with her neighboring community. Virginia, a passionate environmentalist who was dedicated to education, firmly resolved to keep these concerns central to the mission of 577 — but she was equally committed to soliciting community input on the features and services they offer, an approach that continues today.
The result is a place that is neither park nor sanctuary, neither school nor garden, nor artists’ colony nor meeting space. Rather, it’s a little bit of each and — thanks to Virginia and the people who continue her mission — a whole lot more: it’s a place dedicated to restoring the humanity of each visitor. I hope this conversation with Heather will inspire you to make a visit and find out for yourself what a treasure “the 419” has in the 577.
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