3rd Round of Innovations Fund Grant Recipients Announced

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 10, 2014
Contact: Emily Wilson ewilson@leadingage.org or 202-508-9492

Washington -- LeadingAge and NewCourtland have announced the 3rd round recipients of the Innovations Fund, a series of grants awarded to nonprofit providers of aging services for projects that have a demonstrable impact on residents, clients, families, employees or the broader community, and that have the potential for replication.

In this round, grants were offered to projects in two distinct categories:  

• Innovative Dementia Care Programs--programs that pursue promising strategies for improving the quality of life and quality of care for people with dementia. Funding for these awards is made possible thanks to LeadingAge’s Great Minds Gala (held in partnership with Integrace, formerly EMA), as well as the generosity of LeadingAge members and individuals.
  
  
• Mental Health Needs in Affordable Senior Housing Settings--innovative projects that address the mental health of residents living in affordable housing plus services settings. Funding for these awards is made possible thanks to the generosity of the NewCourtland Foundation, LeadingAge members, and individuals.

Innovative Dementia Care Recipients

The following are the recipients of the grants for innovative dementia care programs:

• Ecumen in Shoreview, MN, has been awarded $29,818.80 to integrate bright, blue lights within memory units for adults with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Studies have shown that exposure to blue light decreases sleep disturbances and reduces depression and agitation among seniors with ADRD.
   
• Montefiore Home in Beachwood, OH, has been awarded $20,000 to implement an In-Home Memory Support Program to expand the range of services to the community throughout the continuum of dementia care. Often individuals with dementia enter long-term care or assisted living prematurely, due to a lack of available in-home community support services. The proposed In-Home Memory Support Program provides an innovative service bundle to address this need.

Mental Health Needs in Affordable Housing Recipients

The following are recipients of grants for addressing mental health needs in affordable housing settings: 

• SET Ministry, Inc. in Milwaukee, WI, has been awarded $50,000 to develop a community health advocate program at three Milwaukee public housing sites. This project will train community opinion leaders to promote health and well being in their communities, with an emphasis on healing from chronic toxic stress in childhood, as well as community organization and empowerment.

• Senior Housing Assistance Group (SHAG) in Seattle, WA, has been awarded $49,204.48 to create a Hoarding Disorder Specialist (HDS) who will work with SHAG’s property managers, resident service coordinators and residents. Nearly 40% of SHAG senior residents who are at risk for evictions suffer from hoarding disorder. The HDS will work to develop best practices for working with hoarding disorder residents.

“We created our Innovations Fund with the help of the NewCourtland Foundation in order to foster innovation among our membership,” said Larry Minnix, president and CEO of LeadingAge. “Our awards committee was thrilled with the overwhelming response to our call for applications, and we look forward to following the success of our four award winners during the award period and beyond.”

LeadingAge and NewCourtland believe that showing promising practices through projects financed by the Innovations Fund will help influence both policy and practice in the years to come.