MCF Announces $1 Million in Grants to Provide Services to Older Adults
May 04, 2011
contact: Fred Silverman (415.464.2527 or via email)
To help low-income older adults in Marin County remain healthy and engaged in the community, the Marin Community Foundation (MCF) has announced $1 million in grants to 17 nonprofit organizations in Marin that offer a range of services and provide opportunities for volunteering.
The grants, made under the Foundation’s strategic focus on successful aging, will enable local residents to benefit from such services as food delivery, community center programs, and employment services.
Several grants will increase the ability of local nonprofit organizations to provide case management services to older adults. “This is a key component of helping maintain the independence of this population,” said Dr. Thomas Peters, president and CEO of the Foundation, “since these agencies coordinate their clients’ medical care, arrange for transportation, oversee in-home care, and help them access public assistance. Without this kind of oversight, individuals are forced to arrange and monitor these services by themselves, which can be overwhelming.”
One new grant recipient, Marin Center for Independent Living, will link older adults who have disabilities with personal care attendants who will assist with the activities of daily living, including bathing, dressing, feeding, and transportation.
Older adults will benefit from a range of classes and groups sponsored by Whistlestop, such as computer and art classes, English language classes, and exercise programs.
And grants to LifeLong Medical Care and Senior Access will enable them to provide therapeutic day care services for low-income older adults with dementia and other debilitating mental and physical conditions. Such programs, Peters noted, are also valuable to the caregivers of these people, since they provide much-needed respite from their many responsibilities.
Peters explained that another goal of the Foundation’s funding is to help agencies serving older adults to be more effective in helping populations with special needs, including members of the gay, lesbian, and transgendered community; people whose native language is not English; and people of color. So far, grants to Spectrum LGBT Center of the North Bay have enabled it to provide training to ten agencies in Marin, and new grants to Spectrum as well as to LifeLong Medical Care will expand this training in the coming year.
Grants to ten projects in Marin will offer volunteer opportunities to the county’s older adults. For example, Audubon Canyon Ranch and Novato Historical Guild will sponsor volunteer programs for older adults who have an interest in their work.
Other programs will engage volunteers in working with young people, helping with administrative tasks, and serving as companions for other older adults.
“These kinds of programs have multiple benefits,” said Peters. “They reduce the risk of social isolation, they improve the volunteers’ quality of life, and they are of tremendous value to the agencies themselves, given the budgeting challenges they face.
“In fact,” he added, “we found from a survey we conducted among Marin’s older volunteers that they feel more engaged, appreciated, and active as a result of their volunteer efforts.”
Grants made to date under the Foundation’s Strategic Plan have funded services for over 5,000 older adults in Marin.
“These efforts will help the county’s older adults age with greater health and dignity,” stated Peters. “And a healthy, full engaged older citizenry ultimately strengthens the entire community.”
A complete list of grants follows:
Audubon Canyon Ranch: $16,200
Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership: $50,000
Dance Palace: $20,000
Episcopal Senior Communities: $70,000
Jewish Family Children’s Services: $85,000
LifeLong Medical Care: $50,000
Marin Center for Independent Living: $20,000
Marin Villages: $30,000
Northern California Presbyterian Homes and Services Foundation: $30,000
Novato Historical Guild: $20,000
Novato Human Needs Center: $40,000
San Geronimo Valley Community Center: $7,500
Senior Access: $75,000
Spectrum LGBT Center of the North Bay: $60,000
West Marin Senior Services: $200,000
Whistlestop: $200,000
YWCA of San Francisco + Marin: $85,000
TOTAL: $1,058,700
