Strategies to help Minnesotans stay in their homes and remain vital members of their communities as they grow old will be employed this year with a total of $2,296,787 in funding appropriated by the Minnesota Legislature. Helping Minnesotans stay in their homes and communities also saves the state dollars by making sure that nursing home care is reserved for those who need more intensive services.
Among projects being awarded through the Minnesota Department of Human Services Community Service/Community Services Development Grants are several that support informal caregivers, friends and family members whose help is critical to supporting people 65 and older to remain in their homes and communities.
“Providing older Minnesotans the support they need to stay in their homes and communities is good all-around for the state,” said Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson. “It enhances freedom of choice for individuals, strengthens communities and saves taxpayer dollars.”
The 14 projects being funded are the following:
- Knute Nelson Home Care, based in Alexandria, is receiving $59,311 to introduce in-home monitoring and sensor technology to promote aging in place for older adults in Douglas, Traverse, Grant and Stevens counties.
- Duluth Lighthouse for the Blind is receiving $160,000 to provide services and assistive technology to help older Minnesotans with vision loss who are at higher risk for nursing home placement remain safe and independent in their own homes.
- The Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging, based in Mankato, is awarded $177,634 to improve access to transportation for veterans, older adults and people with disabilities by connecting consumers to rides and other transportation options from a variety of providers and programs in a 27-county area in southwestern Minnesota.
- MAHUBE-OTWA Community Action Partnership, based in Detroit Lakes, will use $188,000 to make affordable chore and homemaker services available to older adults as well as complete home modifications, including building accessible ramps, in Otter Tail and Wadena counties.
- Jewish Community Center of the Greater St. Paul Area will receive $99,999 to improve services to people with early memory loss and their caregivers over two years.
- Volunteer Services of Carlton County is awarded $204,778 to deliver chore, transportation, caregiver respite and caregiver counseling services to people in Carlton and Aitkin counties.
- Amherst H. Wilder Foundation of St. Paul is receiving $259,992 over three years to expand a chronic disease self-management program and to develop neighborhood-based Caregiver Cafés and a volunteer caregiver mentor program in Ramsey County.
- Chatfield Lutheran Church is awarded $180,008 to develop and provide chore and homemaker services, transportation, chronic disease and falls prevention care, caregiver support and companion services to residents of Fillmore County over three years.
- Pioneer Care of Fergus Falls is receiving $116,297 to assemble a community collaborative to use and study electronically monitored medication management in people’s homes in West Central Minnesota.
- Vine Faith in Action of Mankato is awarded $244,595 to provide services such as caregiver support, respite, chore and home modification services to about 900 elders in Blue Earth, Nicollet, Brown, Sibley, Le Sueur, Watonwan and Waseca counties.
- ANGELS, a Living at Home/Block Nurse program based in McGregor, will receive $50,000 to assess the home modification needs of older adults in Aitkin County and build a database of volunteers to perform the needed home modifications so older adults may continue to live at home.
- Great River Area Faith in Action, based in Becker, is awarded $293,998 over a three-year period to expand its Living Well at Home program into Princeton and St. Cloud, implement a respite program in Becker and begin a chronic care management services program in Sherburne and Wright County.
- Oromo Community Inc. of Minneapolis and St. Paul is awarded $150,000 to employ coordinators to recruit, train, deploy and support 34 Oromo and Somali community volunteers to conduct weekly check-ins with elders in their community and perform chore and homemaker tasks as needed.
- Network Therapy Services of Ramsey County is awarded $112,175 over a two-year period to provide home modification services to older adults in St. Anthony and Roseville to facilitate and promote aging in place.
More information on Community Service/Community Services Development Grants is available at www.dhs.state.mn.us/cssd.
