ABOUT US
Mission Statement
The Schuck Foundation believes in the limitless capacity of men and women to meet their challenges as well as those of their families. The Schuck Foundation will support those individuals and organizations utilizing free market principles to foster new, innovative approaches that honor, promote and produce personal responsibility, self-reliance, and independence.
Ellis Island Medal of Honor Award recipient Steve Schuck is pictured with his family
(L to R): Bill, Ann, Joyce, Steve and Tom.
Steve Schuck, Founder
Steve Schuck's career resume reads more like an adventure, a mission to succeed and to lead. It began with an economics degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Following graduation, he became a math teacher and head football coach at Manlius, prep school for West Point. After two years in New York City, he and his wife, Joyce, a published author, headed west.
In almost 40 years since its beginnings, The Schuck Corporation has grown from a small real estate brokerage enterprise to a major developer of commercial, residential, industrial, and mixed-use projects.
The Schucks have, or had, more than 50 joint ventures and partnerships, creating and developing more than 5,000 residential home-sites and over 2,000 acres of commercial projects in the Denver, Colorado Springs, Portland, and Phoenix markets, valued in the billions of dollars.
Steve Schuck's leadership has also extended to many community and civic challenges, including being a trustee of the Daniel's Fund and Board positions with Children First America, Step 13, the Bighorn Center, the Colorado Alliance for Reform in Education, Independence Institute (past Chairman), CACI, Kids Voting, Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, Pikes Peak Y-USO, Junior Achievement, Boy Scouts, Western National Bank, Penrose Hospital, National Jewish Hospital, and the UCCS and CU Foundations.
As a founder or co-founder of both the State and the Colorado Springs private economic development programs, the Greater Denver Corporation, the Colorado Leadership Forum, and the Republican Leadership program, his entrepreneurial accomplishments reach far beyond business.
Presently his focus is on improving public policy, both in Colorado and nationally, so that all parents, regardless of their circumstances, are empowered to choose the education they think is best for their children. In early 2003, his efforts contributed to the passage of Colorado's HB 1160, the country's newest and strongest school choice legislation. And he and Joyce have backed up their commitment to education by creating and funding Parents Challenge, which currently provides scholarships and grants to 250 disadvantaged kids in both public and private schools.
He has been named "Citizen of the Year" by the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, the Colorado Association of Homebuilders, the Urban League, the Board of Realtors, the El Paso County Republican Party, and has received a medal of merit from the University of Colorado Board of Regents, Step 13's first award of leadership, the David S. D'Evelyn Award for Inspired Leadership from the Independence Institute, the YMCA's Woodgate Award and the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise's Achievement Against the Odds "Pharoh" Award, and was chairperson, with Joyce, of the Easter Seals Telethon and the March of Dimes Mothers March. Most recently, Steve received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor Award and was named Honorary Dean of Real Estate by the Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver.
Steve Schuck believes that "Everyone will benefit when business entrepreneurs bring their years of real world experience and talent, developed in the competitive marketplace, to society's challenges."
So he took his thoughts on improving government even a step further. He ran for the Republican nomination for Governor of Colorado in 1986, hoping to apply his community and business leadership to the challenges facing his state. He lost by fewer than 3,000 votes, but made an important contribution to the political landscape. As a candidate, he was endorsed by the Denver Post, which praised his "restless energy, driving intelligence, infectious humor and contagious need to do something."
Steve continues to apply most of his time, energy, and resources to public policy causes in which he believes.
Joyce Schuck, Founder
Joyce Schuck is an author living in Colorado Springs. She moved to Colorado Springs more than 40 years ago with her husband Steve. A graduate of Loretta Heights College with a major in Human Services and Counseling, Joyce became very active in not only Colorado Springs but the metropolitan area of Denver as well.
Joyce co-founded Community Transitions in Colorado Springs, served as the vice president of the Community Council of Pikes Peak Region, helped coordinate the El Paso County Shape Up Program, and designed programs for PPCC, 4th Judicial District DA's office. She is a member of the Junior League of Colorado Springs and was a founding member of Salon de Femme. Troubled teenagers, the homeless, and the disadvantaged have been the focus of Joyce's professional and volunteer efforts. Joyce is a recipient of the Colorado Springs Mayor's award for Civic Leadership.
In 1986, Joyce experienced the travails of the campaign trail firsthand when her husband, Steve, sought the Republican nomination for governor in Colorado. As a would-be first lady, she lamented the political spouse's lot in her 1991 book, Political Wives, Veiled Lives. Joyce presented the startling and often unsettling views of political wives, who share a difficult position and tenuous status in the world of politics. In this warm and humorous account we see the private side of what it's like to be a political wife and whether one wins or loses--life is never quite the same.
Steve and Joyce Schuck founded Parents Challenge in 2000 when they saw the need in the most ailing school districts in Colorado Springs. Parents Challenge provides scholarships to families who qualify for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program. The scholarships help these low-income families in the areas of home school curricula and materials, public school tutoring, transportation to another public school, or private school tuition. In every case, the parents choose which option is best for their child.
Joyce and her husband Steve have three children, six granddaughters and two grandsons. Bill is president and CEO of The Schuck Corporation, Tom is a public school teacher in Colorado Springs, and Ann is a wildlife rehabilitator based in Colorado Springs.