After eight years as the founding president and CEO of Health Foundation of La Porte (HFL), Maria Fruth is retiring.
On April 11, 2024, hundreds of community members came to HFL’s Conference & Learning Center to celebrate Maria’s legacy. Former colleagues, family, and friends joined Maria to reminisce on her impact.
Her tenure as leader of HFL began with the foundation's creation in 2016. Maria led the process of creating the foundation’s structure, including its strategic direction, grantmaking programs, and nonprofit capacity-building efforts, and creating the HFL team. Under Maria’s leadership, HFL has launched three community-wide collaboratives that bring partners together to solve complex problems, including Partners for Healthier Babies, Partners in Prevention, and Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL); grown the When Seconds Count: AED Initiative by adding 251 more life-saving AEDs in key community locations; built and opened the doors to the 13,000 square foot HFL Conference & Learning Center; and led the effort to bring a HeartSafe Community designation to the City of La Porte.
Maria and the HFL Board are thrilled to welcome HFL’s second president and CEO, Eric DeWald. DeWald brings with him more than two decades of experience leading foundations working in the community health area.