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Updated: April 13, 2020

Grants will help communities, nonprofits improve healthy aging in Maine

Seniors at a holiday gathering -- gift table in foreground, people at tables eating in the background. Courtesy / Thalassa Raasch, Maine Community Foundation Healthy Peninsula, a nonprofit based in Blue Hill, will receive a $2,492 grant from the Maine Community Foundation's Lifelong Communities Mini-Grant Program for an event to showcase health and wellness resources, volunteer and job opportunities for older individuals. Shown here is a holiday gathering last year organized by Healthy Peninsula's Salt Air Seniors group.

The Maine Community Foundation on Friday announced that it has awarded $27,000 in grants to 15 Maine nonprofits and municipalities for initiatives promoting healthy aging.

Grants were made through the Lifelong Communities Mini-Grant Program, which helps communities be more supportive of older people’s health, well-being and ability to age in the community. The funded efforts include community planning and the development and implementation of programs that will increase opportunities for people over 60 to stay in their communities as they age.

Any community that considers itself focused on aging may apply, as well as any belonging to AARP's Network of Age Friendly Communities or other networks. 

Grant recipients in the Maine Community Foundation's latest funding round include Healthy Peninsula in Blue Hill, whose Healthy Peninsula’s Age-Friendly Coastal Communities initiative benefits residents of the Blue Hill Peninsula, Stonington and Deer Isle. 

Healthy Peninsula will receive a $2,492 MCF grant for a Community Connections Fair to showcase health and wellness resources and volunteer and opportunities for older residents.

Among municipalities awarded funding, the Washington County town of Danforth will receive $2,000 for an event celebrating completion of a Community Chore Day and promoting awareness of the town's age-friendly initiatives.

Full list of grant recipients and amounts

  • Age Friendly Saco, to support the new Assistive Technology Handy Neighbor program: $2,325
  • Aging at Home, Wayne, to provide monthly lunches to older community members and refreshments during a widows/widowers support group: $1,500
  • Belfast Institute of Lifelong Learning, to instigate more programming for older community members with local organizations: $1,320
  • Gray Lifelong Living Committee, to conduct a survey and face-to-face outreach to Gray's older population to assess needs and develop recommendations for lifelong living programs and services: $1,900
  • Harpswell Aging at Home, to continue providing older Harpswell residents in need with nutritious meals as part of our overall mission to help people age at home: $2,500
  • Healthy Peninsula, Blue Hill, to design and execute a Community Connections Fair to showcase health and wellness resources, volunteer opportunities, and job opportunities for older people in the community: $2,492
  • Neighbor to Neighbor, St. George, for a bulk mailing of a postcard to all St. George households and businesses highlighting free rides for all residents: $1,500
  • Penobscot Nation Boys & Girls Club, Old Town, to implement community activities that will improve the hope, health, and wellness of elders in community through community and culture: $2,500
  • Town of Danforth, to support a town-sponsored event celebrating completion of a "Community Chore Day" and promoting  awareness of the town's age-friendly initiatives: $2,000
  • Town of Dexter, to support the monthly Tea Talks gatherings and programs that focus on improving access, safety, and social interaction for older residents: $1,600
  • Town of Fryeburg, for improving safety and accessibility to public places for older community members: $656
  • Town of Millinocket, to subsidize rides for a grassroots regional transportation pilot program: $2,500
  • Town of Nobleboro, to engage residents in a Lifelong-Livable Communities conversation and survey, assessing older residents' needs, developing age-friendly strategies for inclusion in Nobleboro's Comprehensive Plan update: $1,697
  • Town of Sullivan, to increase internal and external protective factors in older adults which correlate with resilience and successful aging, $1,500
  • Whitefield Cares, for the first mailing of the Whitefield Cares Resource List to Whitefield residents and to conduct a survey to determine additional needs: $1,010.

More information and next deadline

More information as well as program guidelines, application forms and a complete list of 2020 grants are available on Maine Community Foundation's website

The next deadline for grant applications is January 15, 2021.

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