Pew Provides Over $4.3 Million to Support the Region's Elderly Population

The Pew Fund for Health and Human Services announced today that it will provide $4,349,000 over the next three years to 32 Philadelphia-area nonprofits serving the region's elderly population. The organizations receiving grants offer services that enable poor, frail elderly to remain in their homes for as long as possible. 

“With more and more individuals and organizations facing an uncertain financial future, the Pew Fund supports high quality programs that provide social services and help to people in need, including the elderly,” said Frazierita D. Klasen, director of the Pew Fund for Health and Human Services. “These grants provide support to substantial numbers of the area's elderly population who face economic hardship, isolation, and health and mobility challenges that seriously compromise their quality of life.”

The organizations receiving the three year awards would offer services that are organized around five objectives: increasing access to public benefits and community-based services; assisting with housing problems related to homeownership legal issues and minor home repair and maintenance needs; reducing or preventing depression and social isolation; offering personal care and other supportive services to help elderly individuals with their daily tasks; and supporting informal caregivers through such services as respite and adult day care.

The list of grants for programs serving the elderly is attached.

The Pew Fund for Health and Human Services, part of Pew's Philadelphia Program, provides funding for three groups of at-risk populations: vulnerable adults; the isolated and frail elderly; and disadvantaged children, youth and their families. Since its inception in 1991, the Pew Fund has awarded approximately $170 million to more than 300 health and human service nonprofit organizations in Philadelphia and neighboring Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties. For additional information on the Pew Fund for Health and Human Services, visit www.pewtrusts.org/pewfund.

Through the Philadelphia Program, Pew seeks to enhance civic life in its hometown. We partner with many local institutions in encouraging a thriving arts and cultural community; supporting the health and welfare of the region's neediest residents; informing discussion on important issues facing the city; and, more broadly, strengthening Philadelphia's appeal to visitors and residents alike.

Increasing access to public benefits and community-based services:

• Aid for Friends — $162,000
  For continued operating support to provide home-cooked meals to low-income, homebound elderly people in the five-county Philadelphia area.
• Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly — $189,000
  For continued support of the CARIE Line, a free telephone service providing information and consultation to vulnerable elderly people.
• Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired — $97,000
  For support of in-home rehabilitation and case management to assist blind and visually impaired older adults to maintain their independence.
• Community Legal Services — $150,000
  To provide legal assistance to low-income elderly to help them secure financial and health benefits as well as home-based services.
• Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley — $120,000
  For support of financial education and counseling for seniors.
• Contact Greater Philadelphia — $50,000
  For continued support of the Reassurance CONTACT program providing daily contact, referrals and crisis intervention assistance to frail, isolated elderly people.
• ElderNet of Lower Merion and Narberth — $45,000
  For continued operating support to provide education, referral and a range of in-home services to elderly people.
• Family Service Association of Bucks County — $140,000
  To strengthen case management services for elderly public housing residents in Bucks County.
• Golden Slipper Center for Seniors — $130,000
  For continued support to assist needy elderly, with a focus on those who are Russian immigrants.
• Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia — $145,000
  To ensure the provision of needed support services to elderly residents of Northeast Philadelphia.
• Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania — $120,000
  To provide legal services to low- and moderate-income elderly in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties.
• Oxford Area Neighborhood Services Center — $24,000
  For continued support of the Adopt A Friend program, which uses volunteers to assist isolated elderly residents of southern Chester County.
• Philadelphia Senior Center — $120,000
  For continued operating support to provide services to elderly Philadelphia residents.

Assisting with housing problems related to homeownership legal issues and minor home repair and maintenance needs:

• Energy Coordinating Agency of Philadelphia — $120,000
  For repairs to the homes of frail, low-income seniors.
• SeniorLAW Center — $150,000
  For support of the Homeowners Assistance Program to provide low-income elderly in Philadelphia with housing-related legal assistance.

Reducing or preventing depression and social isolation:

• Center in the Park — $120,000
  For operating support to provide comprehensive services to older adults, primarily in Philadelphia's northwestern region.
• Central Montgomery Mental Health/Mental Retardation Center — $137,000
  For continued support of the Senior Outreach Service program to provide in-home mental-health assessments and treatment to elderly people and support to their caregivers.
• Co-Mhar — $168,000
  For continued support to provide mental health services to elderly people, with an emphasis on the Latino population.
• Family Services of Montgomery County — $120,000
  For continued support of Project Hearth to provide in-home mental health counseling and support services to frail elderly people of Montgomery County.
• Intercommunity Action — $150,000
  To offer peer-led therapeutic support groups to elderly who are at risk of or experiencing depression.
• Lincoln Center for Family and Youth — $165,000
  For continued support of counseling to reduce the incidence of depression among low-income elderly people in Montgomery County.
• Mid-County Senior Services — $135,000
  For continued operating support to assist older adults through its home support services, senior centers and adult day care programs.
• Senior Community Services — $155,000
  For continued support of Senior Center at Home, a recreational therapy program that maintains and improves the mental health of low-income homebound elderly residents of Delaware County.
• Supportive Older Women's Network — $115,000
  For continued operating support to maintain and establish support groups to reduce the incidence of depression among low-income elderly women.

Offering personal care and other supportive services to help elderly individuals with their daily tasks:

• American Cancer Society — $165,000
  For continued support to provide homemaker and home health aide services to low-income elderly cancer patients.
• Jewish Family and Children's Service of Greater Philadelphia — $242,000
  For continued support to provide in-home services to frail elderly in Philadelphia.
• Surrey Services for Seniors — $120,000
  For subsidized home care services for medically frail, low-income seniors.
• VNA Community Services — $128,000
  For continued support of the In-Home Care program to provide homemaker services to low-income elderly people.

Supporting informal caregivers through such services as respite and adult day care:

• Adult Care of Chester County — $100,000
  For continued operating support to provide adult day-care services for elderly people living with chronic illnesses as well as respite and educational programs for their caregivers.
• Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association, Delaware Valley Chapter — $140,000
  To provide counseling, education and support services for low-income elderly caregivers of persons with dementia in Philadelphia.
• Madlyn and Leonard Abramson Center for Jewish Life — $252,000
  For continued support of Counseling for Caregivers, to provide assistance to families caring for frail, elderly relatives.
• Temple University — $175,000
  For continued support of the Time Out program to place college students as providers of respite care.