Akron Children’s is deeply honored and sincerely grateful to receive funding from the Reid Wiley Charitable Foundation to enhance access to asthma resources within Akron Children’s School Health Services program. For more than 20 years, School Health Services has served as a community-based department of Akron Children’s, partnering with 43 school districts across 12 Ohio counties and reaching more than 96,000 students. Their mission is simple yet vital: to support and improve health outcomes of the students served. Akron Children’s School Health Services believes that a student must be healthy to learn, and they are committed to removing barriers that stand in the way of their well-being.

A key component of this work is their rescue inhaler protocol, available to school districts served by Akron Children’s. This protocol ensures that every school clinic is equipped with a rescue albuterol inhaler and spacer, allowing students experiencing an asthma attack to receive immediate treatment, especially when they do not have their personal inhaler or an asthma action plan on file. Akron Children’s is proud that 40 of the 43 districts they serve have adopted this life‑saving protocol.

Akron Children’s School Health Services department also provides an additional layer of support through School Based Health, which brings access to healthcare providers directly into the school setting. Currently active in 20 contracted school districts across 11 counties, School Based Health offers a critical bridge for students who lack an asthma treatment plan. With parental or guardian consent, providers can evaluate students, establish treatment plans, and help address barriers such as difficulty accessing medication. In many cases, School Based Health can also facilitate the use of maintenance inhalers at school to support consistent asthma management.

We are thrilled to share that, in 2026, the Reid Wiley Charitable Foundation began the process to establish the Wiley Asthma Program Fund at Akron Children’s. Thanks to the Reid Wiley Charitable Foundation’s extraordinary generosity and commitment to children’s health, this fund is poised to make a transformative impact on students with asthma across the school districts Akron Children’s serves.

The Wiley Asthma Program Fund will help ensure that children with asthma have the resources they need to thrive at school. The fund will provide essential supplies including but not limited to more than 300 inhalers and 875 spacers in its first year of operation. The fund will empower Akron Children’s School Health team to respond swiftly to urgent asthma‑related needs and as a result, remove barriers, close gaps in care, and support children right where they spend most of their day: in the classroom.

The generosity of the Reid Wiley Charitable Foundation strengthens Akron Children’s ability to continue this important work in the schools that they serve and advances a shared commitment to the health and success of students throughout the community living with asthma. Akron Children’s is deeply grateful to the Reid Wiley Charitable Foundation for championing this important work and helping bring lifesaving asthma support to children.

Stephanie Pegler, MA

Corporate Gift Officer