Elder Wellness Enrichment Initiative

General Initiative Information

The Elder Wellness Enrichment Initiative seeks to help promote and maintain healthy, active aging in rural Kentucky by identifying and increasing engagement with organizations currently serving rural Kentucky's aging populations, and promoting opportunities for collaboration between those organizations and their regional rural safety-net health care providers.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

The Elder Wellness Enrichment Initiative Grant (see below) offers funding (up to $5,000 per recipient) to nonprofit rural health care organizations and community-based organizations to create or enhance services for older adults — to help them age in place in rural Kentucky. 

Elder Wellness Enrichment Initiative Grant 

OVERVIEW

The Elder Wellness Enrichment Initiative Grant offers funding (up to $5,000 per recipient) to nonprofit rural health care organizations and community-based organizations to create or enhance services for older adults — to help them age in place in rural Kentucky.

Projects submitted for consideration may be entirely new or build upon existing services; however, they must be innovative and potentially serve as a best practice to be shared in Kentucky and with other states. Applications requesting funding to maintain existing services will not be considered.

Projects must be conducted in collaboration with at least one (1) of the following rural stakeholders located in an applicant's community or region: a critical access hospital, a small rural hospital, a rural health clinic, a federally qualified health center, a local health department or an EMS service.

FUNDING PREFERENCE

Due to the increasing costs of food and subsequent food insecurities, funding preference will be given to projects that place an emphasis on nutrition. (Some examples: An intergenerational collaboration between a qualifying stakeholder, a county extension office and a Family Resource Youth Service Center at a local school to start raised bed gardens. Pair a nutritionist with a community kitchen to offer seniors nutrition education and then have the group plan meals for the kitchen to distribute to older adults in the community.)

In addition, projects that include the targeted demographic in planning/active participation will be given a priority. (Older adults should be engaged in as much of the process as possible; this should not be services/activities completed “for” them, but “with” them.) Intergenerational involvement is encouraged but not required.