Older Adults Maintaining Independence - Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis

Funding Goal

To foster optimal health and wellness for older adults enabling them to live safe, productive, and independent lives.

Overview

With a growing older adult population, challenges exist on how to provide quality services that allow older Americans to receive adequate mental and physical care, services that permit them to age with dignity in their own homes and outlets for continued contribution to their communities long after they have left the workforce.

Through grant support, the Foundation will invest in programs and services which foster the optimal health and wellness of older adults in the St. Louis area. Lutheran Foundation seeks to support services which address preventative and continued care, permit functional independence and allow older adults to participate and contribute meaningfully in their congregations and communities.

Outcomes

Outcomes describe, in broad terms, the measurable change within each Funding Focus Area that Lutheran Foundation would like to see in the lives of those served by grantees. Outcomes allow the Foundation to aggregate indicators across multiple grantees to determine our community impact.

Organizations seeking funding from the Foundation must demonstrate how their program will address one or more of the following outcomes:

OUTCOME #1

Older adults will maintain or experience improved mental, physical and/or spiritual health.

OUTCOME #2

Older adults will experience reduced social isolation.

OUTCOME #3

Older adults will gain or maintain functional independence.

While modeling the healing love of Christ, Lutheran Foundation strives to invest in services that show measurable impact in the lives of hurting people. We look to accomplish this by supporting services that are:

Comprehensive and collaborative in addressing the complicated and complex needs of the targeted population;
Responsive to cultural and gender differences;
Family-centered or focused; and
Evidence-based/informed and/or utilize best or promising practices.

Interested applicants must be recognized by and in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization, or be sponsored by such an entity. In the latter instance, the sponsoring agency must serve as the lead organization and will be recognized as the fiscal agent for the grant. Collaborative efforts, which are strongly encouraged, should include the tax-exempt letter of the lead agency.

Applicants must provide project services in the geographic area supported by the Lutheran Foundation which includes the following counties in the St. Louis metropolitan area:

Missouri counties: Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and Warren
Illinois counties of Clinton, Jersey, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair

Regular Grants
Organizations are typically funded by annual grants. Grants may be renewed for up to three years, with a 20-25% decrease each year; however, grantees must apply annually.

Multi-Year Grants
Multi-year grants are available but are less typical and most commonly awarded to organizations and churches that have had a long-term relationship with the Foundation and a history of high performance. Funding for the same program is usually limited to a total of three years.

*NOTE: Lutheran Foundation is highly relational and seeks to develop relationships with our grantees to build mutual understanding and partnership. Organizations that anticipate applying for funding are highly encouraged to request a consultation with Foundation staff.

Funding requests into the Foundation are most often for programmatic support. Organizational support is available for organizations that have an established relationship with the Foundation and are able to demonstrate that the funding will enable the organizations to operate more effectively and sustainably. The following are examples of programs/services/activities which the Foundation will consider for funding (not an exhaustive list):

Program Support

Caregiver services, such as training, education and supportive services about skills, self-care and knowledge of resources.
Education on aging-related health issues (e.g., chronic disease self-management) to better make informed health-related decisions.
Faith-based services that utilize chaplains, health and peer coaches, and/or parish/faith community nurses.
Healthcare services, such as nutrition and healthy lifestyles, access to preventative care and diagnosis and management of chronic health conditions.
Health promotion activities, such as exercise, nutritional education, and smoking cessation.
Service navigation to access available programs, such as meal assistance, housing, basic household needs, prescription drug benefits, utility assistance, etc.
Social and/or educational opportunities for meaningful family, church, and/or community connections/engagements.
Support services that address basic needs for older adults who want to remain in their home environment in their community. Examples include:
- Home-delivered groceries, meals, books, and craft supplies
- Home and personal care services (e.g., chore and cooking services)
- Transportation (e.g., doctor appointments, grocery stores, social outings)
- Managing personal finances
- Home safety improvement programs (e.g. cosmetic/minor repairs, bathroom modification, heating/cooling, accommodations for disabilities)
- Nutritional supplements and incontinence supplies as part of a broader program

Capacity Building Support

Activities and projects that would contribute to the increased capacity and sustainability of the organization in the long term, such as leadership, fundraising, risk management, and performance management.
Short term activities or one-time expenses that help an organization and/or program operate more effectively such as new technology, board and staff training/development, and external consulting services, such as strategic planning and program evalutation.

Click here to learn more about capacity building funding.

The Foundation will generally not consider the following requests:

Annual appeals/special events/fundraisers/sponsorships
Grants to specific individuals
Lobbying activities
Operating deficits
Organizations that do not have a 501(c)(3) tax status
Scholarships
Services outside the Foundation’s defined St. Louis metropolitan area

Unless invited by Lutheran Foundation:

Capital campaigns or major capital expenditures that are not directly related to program implementation
Seed money necessary to start a new agency

Specific to the Funding Focus Area Older Adults Maintaining Independence:

Services within licensed care facilities

For questions regarding funding in this focus area, please contact Rebekah Miller, Senior Program Officer. She can be reached at rebekah@lutheranfoundation.org or 314-231-2244 ext. 110.

For current grantees with specific questions regarding grant reporting, payment, and contracts, please contact Juliet Holden, Grants Manager. She can be reached at juliet@lutheranfoundation.org or 314-231-2244 ext. 111.

LOCAL RESOURCES

Aging Successfully in St. Louis County: A Quality of Life Assessment – produced by the St. Louis County Department of Planning in December 2014, this report provides a detailed demographic, economic and health profile of the county’s older residents, examines housing issues like home ownership and affordability, and inventories public sector services provided by local governments and agencies.

Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) were established by the Older Americans Act and provides services and resources to older adults. Below are AAAs serving the St. Louis region (counties highlighted are within the Lutheran Foundation service area):

AgeSmart- serving Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair (IL)
Aging Ahead – serving Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. Louis (MO)
Area Agency on Aging for Lincolnland - serving Jersey (IL)
Northeast Missouri AAA – serving Lincoln and Warren (MO)
St. Louis Area Agency on Aging – serving St. Louis City (MO)

Census 2020 – resources and information on the upcoming Census by a local funder, Missouri Foundation for health.

Seniors Count of Greater St. Louis Needs Assessment a coalition of organizations representing a variety of sectors commissioned this study of the geographic, demographic, needs and resource trends affecting older adults in St. Louis City, County, and St. Charles County.

NATIONAL RESOURCES

Administration on Aging (Department of Health and Human Services) is an office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that provides statistics and resources pertaining to older adults and their families.

Aging of the US Population an interactive tool showing the aging of the US Population from 1990-2010.

American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) provides information and services dedicated to positive social change for people age 50 and over.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides comprehensive statistics in relation to health, especially for health disparities, impacts and outcomes for older adults.

The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (a division of the CDC) provides statistics useful for this particular population.

National Council on Aging provides providers, older adults and their caregivers, and advocates resources, trainings and policy updates.