The Grand Rapids Community Foundation announced today that over the next two years it is offering $1 million in grant funding to nonprofits serving older adults. Within that $1 million, $250,000 will be set aside specifically to address the social and civic engagement needs of Kent County’s older adults. Grant proposals will be accepted until December 1, 2005. The social and civic outreach is based on research that the Foundation conducted in 2004 which indicated that less than half of residents (age 65 and older) were involved in volunteer work. According to the AdvantAge Initiative survey: Forty two percent of Kent County's older adults are involved in volunteer work. Considering that these volunteers contribute more than 8 million hours of services each year, the potential impact of engaging greater numbers of older adults in volunteer work is clear. Volunteer engagement is an important part of an older adult’s sense of well-being and having a health, happy outlook on life. Only 15% of Kent County's older adults now work for pay. However, of those not working for pay, 12% indicated they would like to have paid employment. In addition, most research indicates that a significantly higher proportion of baby boomers expect to work well into their retirement years, with financial need being a primary factor for many. With this data in mind, the Community Foundation is particularly interested in funding projects focused on creating substantive, meaningful opportunities for older adult involvement in volunteer or paid work—with a focus on the quality of opportunity rather than simply increasing the quantity of available positions. The Community Foundation will award up to five 18-month grants with a dollar amount averaging $50,000. "We are also interested in funding an Experience Corps project here in Grand Rapids," said Luckert. Experience Corps offers in-depth volunteer opportunities in service for people over 55. Currently located in 14 cities, Experience Corps volunteers work to solve serious social problems, beginning with literacy. "We feel this kind of project would be a good fit for this community," she added. The Community Foundation and the Area Agency on Aging of Western Michigan jointly launched Creating Community for a Lifetime (CCFL), a long-term community-wide initiative to help build a framework for addressing the challenges and opportunities presented by an aging population. CCFL workgroups helped prioritize and strategize the direction of the research results and defining recommendations to address needs in the community. "We concluded that increasing volunteer involvement, enhancing older adult's work related skills and improving opportunities for meaningful work would be the Community Foundation’s first priority," said Kate Luckert, Program Director for the Grand Rapids Community Foundation. The funds for the grants are from the Lucy E. Barnett Trust for the Elderly at the Grand Rapids Community Foundation. The Trust was created with a gift to the Foundation in 1967, when Miss Barnett left the bulk of her $1.8 million estate to the Foundation to meet the needs of the elderly. To download the Request for Proposal for this grant, click here.