2022-2024 Grantees
This page highlights the impactful and innovative work to be accomplished by the third cohort of Community Care Corps grantees. Each snapshot includes a program overview highlighting key efforts, partners and future directions. Learn more about work of the Community Care Corps grantees and explore how your organization can implement its own innovative programs.
A Little Help
Denver, Colorado | www.alittlehelp.org
A Little Help’s work increases older adults’ ability to live independently in their homes on their own terms while building stronger, more integrated communities. Initiated by expressed need in the community, funding will enable A Little Help to strategically expand its Northern Colorado program and establish a permanent presence in western Weld County, including Greeley, Windsor, and Johnstown. With funding from Community Care Corps, A Little Help will recruit older adult members; engage volunteers; pilot a strength training component; cultivate partnerships; share, launch and pilot models nationally, and ultimately encourage and foster thecommunity to meet its mission to help older adults thrive.
CaringMatters
Gaithersburg, Maryland | www.CaringMatters.org
CaringMatters’ model includes in-home visits to economically vulnerable 60+ seniors who have difficulty living independently; volunteers will provide companionship, shopping for essentials, light housekeeping, food preparation; and transportation to medical appointments and social services. Caregivers of the in-home senior clients and other recruited family caregivers will participate in volunteer-facilitated support groups and/or receive check-in contacts from volunteers. The model also will work to connect seniors and caregivers with formal and informal community resources. A total of 40 seniors and 70 caregivers will be served by 50 newly recruited, trained and supported volunteers, all coming from the Montgomery County Maryland’s diverse populations.
Lifespan of Greater Rochester
Rochester, New York | www.lifespanrochester.org
Lifespan of Greater Rochester, Inc. will recruit volunteers to provide respite for caregivers of older adults with dementia and/or chronic illness. This innovative model includes training volunteers to use specialized virtual reality programming with caregivers and receivers as part of the respite visit, formally evaluate its use and disseminate findings. Focused recruitment to join our existing in-home respite program will be done to expand our pool of volunteers who are Black/African American, Latinx and LGBTQ+. This approach will fill the needs of diverse caregivers and communities for enhanced respite services and pilot VR's use in community-based settings to enhance quality of life and reduce isolation.
Lutheran Senior Services
St. Louis, Missouri | www.lssliving.org
Lutheran Senior Services (LSS) is a mission-driven, not-for-profit network that specializes in housing, care, and support services for older adults. LSS will provide companionship and nonmedical services to 40 individuals aged 60 years and older living alone in two LSS Senior Affordable Housing communities in the Missouri county of St. Louis and St. Louis city. The goal is to increase their ability to live independently and to decrease social isolation. LSS will expand its companion program, Senior Connections, to include recruiting and training volunteers to provide laundry, housecleaning, and digital communication services to older adults. These additional services will enable residents to remain independent in their apartments and reduce social isolation. This will further the LSS mission of older adults living life to the fullest.
MAB Community Services
Brookline, Massachusetts | www.mabvi.org
The Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired will help at least 225 visually disabled older adults remain independent and socially engaged by matching them with trained, long-term volunteers. Our model program will help disabled seniors remain in their homes by providing volunteer support for nonmedical daily living activities (ADLs) and transportation. This request will develop an existing volunteer program into a model of excellence that can be replicated. We propose to improve volunteer retention, increase recruitment of bilingual volunteers, and design a new consumer training for participants that will address the unique needs of older adults aging into vision loss.
NeighborLink Indianapolis Foundation Inc
Indianapolis, Indiana | www.nlindy.org
NeighborLink Indianapolis provides home repairs at no cost to homeowners 62+ or those with a disability who have a household income at 150% or below the Federal Poverty Line and whosehome is in Marion County, Indiana. Our mission is to help homeowners age in place safely. This program uses current volunteers for handy repairs and builds upon that team by recruiting and training additional volunteers in general handy/DIY skills. These volunteers are in addition to our organized group volunteers who work on very simple yard or painting projects for a homeowner.
On My Own of Michigan
Troy, Michigan | www.onmyownofmi.org
On My Own of Michigan will develop a stipend-based internship program for underrepresented social work and special education college students to help increase the number of people with developmental disabilities who are successfully living independently long-term.
Penn Memory Center, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | www.pennmemorycenter.org
The Penn Memory Center’s (PMC) Caring Difference is a suite of programs designed to support families living with dementia. Time Together and the Caring Collective are examples of two programs that deliver services through volunteers. In Time Together, memory impaired individuals receive up to 10 hours/week of companion care by college students, giving caregivers a break. In the Caring Collective, newer caregivers receive peer coaching/support from veteran caregivers. Goals of these novel programs are to reduce social isolation and enhance quality of life for the people with dementia, reduce caregiver burden, and provide learning opportunities to students interested in aging and dementia.
Prisma Health-Upstate
Greenville, South Carolina | www.prismahealth.org
The Prisma Health Accountable Communities' Community Care (CC) program is working to address basic nonmedical needs of un/underinsured patients by partnering with community and faith-based organizations to establish groups of volunteers to provide practical, emotional, and spiritual support not offered in traditional healthcare settings. CC would like to expand its current program to increase the number of volunteers and patients enrolled by broadening their referral sources and adding in a screening for social determinants of health. Moreover, the program would like to continue understanding its impact on the senior population and analyzing the potential to reduce patient depression, anxiety, and social isolation.
REACH Community Respite Ministry
Auburn, Alabama | www.aumc.net/reach
REACH Community Respite Ministry provides support to meet the social and emotional needs of adults living with mild to moderate dementia and their Care Partners. Our team of dementia-trained volunteers provide mentally, physically, emotionally, and socially engaging activities outside the home in a safe and caring setting. This time provides Care Partners with emotional support through our Care Partner support group, information regarding available resources, and personal time away during the day in which to rest and address their own needs.
SeniorAge
Springfield, Missouri | www.senioragemo.org
SeniorAge will offer Senior Medical Companion support services to those requiring a person present at a health procedure or appointment. After confirming the senior's wishes, the volunteer can be present at the procedure or appointment with emergency contact information. The volunteer can also help the patient record aftercare and medicine instructions. They will follow up with a call to reiterate doctor's instructions and to see if there are questions. We have 15 volunteers currently and hope to add 15 more over the next 18 months. We believe this service will increase healthcare accessibility for at-risk seniors.
Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Elders, Inc. (SAGE)
New York, New York | www.sageusa.org
Operating since 1978, SAGE’s Friendly Visitors Program is the first of its kind in the nation, serving as a lifeline of intergenerational social support for isolated and homebound LGBTQ+ elders in New York City. Through weekly contact, SAGE volunteers provide companionship, assist with daily tasks to foster independent living, and forge meaningful, nurturing relationships with LGBTQ+ elders. To reduce social isolation and promote healthy aging among this often marginalized and underserved population of older adults, our goal is to expand the number of Friendly Visitor matches by 50%, growing from 60 to 90 active matches.
United Home Care Services Inc. dba United HomeCare
Miami, Florida | www.avusconnect.org
United HomeCare is a trusted industry leader with a 50-year history helping families care for their aging relatives. Through its AVUS™ Connect Tech Pals “Innovative Local Model,” United HomeCare provides volunteer nonmedical assistance through an intergenerational youth-led volunteer hybrid service that provides access-to-technology to family caregivers and homebound older adults ages 60+ experiencing loneliness and isolation and/or living in underserved communities with the goal of connecting them to the communities in which they live. AVUS Tech Pals will train older adults and caregivers to use tablet technology engaging with them virtually in friendly conversations, provide companionship, and in-person home visits giving family caregivers much-needed respite. This model will further strengthen intergenerational volunteerism by engaging future generations to advocate on behalf of older adult causes by building community cohesion and social capital, and reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation.
Yellowstone Council on Aging (YCOA) dba Adult Resource Alliance of Yellowstone County (ARA)
Billings, Montana | www.allianceyc.org
The Senior Service Social Circle (SSSC) model will provide seniors, adults with disabilities, and family caregivers a domiciliary, nonmedical, and volunteer-driven system whose goal is to assist participants with meeting identified needs as outlined in a comprehensive assessment, conducted by an Occupational Therapist. Services identified through the OT assessment will be coordinated by a certified Community Health Worker. The model is a comprehensive approach to community-based volunteer services from a single entry-point. SSSC will provide well-defined roles for staff and volunteers to ensure ease of access to available agency and community social service resources, thereby lessening the barriers associated with entry into services. The model's goal will enhance the participants' quality of life through the senior's active participation in the SSSC program.