Our mission is to improve the educational, cultural, recreational, social, and governmental aspects of the community and surrounding areas.

In the mid-1960’s, Deseree Liddell, Vernon L. Mathews, and community residents began working together to form the Skeels Improvement Corporation (SIC), which was finalized in 1968, as a means to improve their neighborhood. Shortly after, the Skeels-Mathews Community Center received funding from the Portage County Community Action Council for its first permanent location on Arbeco Street. In 1980, the Center moved to its current location on Skeels Street in Ravenna, but soon after, Community Action Council dropped them from funding due to lack of funds. Deseree continued to work at the Center for three years after that with no pay. The residents held monthly fundraisers to help pay for the building utilities until the United Way of Portage County started funding them from 1983 to present.

The Center itself was built thanks to a grant from the Portage County Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. In 2000, an addition was built through the same funding that included a larger kitchen, clothing giveaway room, computer lab, three offices, a food pantry, and most importantly, a children’s room named in Deseree’s honor.  Sharon Sanders, Deseree’s daughter, started volunteering for the Skeels-Mathews Community Center in 1980 and is now the director at the Center. Today, the Skeels-Mathews Community Center continues to be the place of hope for the community, focusing its programs on children, teens, and older adults.  Many of its programs are implemented with the help of dedicated volunteers and community partners. Skeels main goal is to help further the growth and education of young people.