Caring Together, Living Better. Outline The Weinberg Foundation AgeOptions Project Regional Improvements Local Projects Tying it all Together Progress.

Caring Together, Living Better

Outline• The Weinberg Foundation• AgeOptions Project• Regional Improvements• Local Projects• Tying it all Together• Progress to Date• Next steps• Lessons Learned

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation

• National grant-making organization

• Located in Maryland

• Dedicated to assisting the poor, especially elderly poor

• Issued a national Request for Proposals to fund 12-20 Caregiver Support Projects

Weinberg’s Family and Informal Caregiver Support RFP

• First issued in March, 2008

• 360 Letters of Inquiry received last June

• 51 selected to submit proposals in October

• 14 projects selected ($8.1 million) March 2009

AgeOptions Project

• $515,357 awarded• Total project cost $1,139,165 • South Suburbs chosen as target areaPartners: Catholic Charities Metropolitan Family Services CJE SeniorLife

Twelve Focus Communities

•Blue Island

•Calumet City

•Calumet Park

•Dixmoor

•Dolton

•Harvey

•Markham

•Phoenix

•Posen

•Riverdale

•Robbins

•South Holland

Target Area

Why the South Suburbs?

Weinberg grant is an opportunity to…

• Focus on services in the south suburbs

• Develop culturally-appropriate services

• Develop new partnerships

• AgeOptions is committed to this area

Demographics

• Unemployment in some of these towns is over 5% higher than national average

• Median income for older adults as low as half the national average ($12,000 per year in Robbins)

• Two-thirds of residents are African-American

Caregiver Support

Who are caregivers?• Family, friends or neighbors who care for an older adult

What support is already available?• Caregiver Specialist• Respite• Training• Support groups

Caring Together, Living Better Goals

• Local (innovative, responsive) programs

• Expansion & improvement of regional supports

• Continuous evaluation and sustainability activities

• Replication/dissemination

Regional Improvements

• Access (outreach and capacity)

• Respite

• Training

Local Projects

• Church is often the caregiver’s main/only community link

• Local churches understand local needs

• 7 churches, 1 organization to develop innovative caregiver support programs

• AgeOptions provides guidance and small stipend to each local partner

Local Project Partners

• Bethel AME • Covenant UCC• Kizer Memorial• Metropolitan Family Services• Shekinah Lutheran• Valley Kingdom• Victory Christian• Word Made Flesh

Target Area

• Getting the word out

• Volunteer respite or transportation

• Support Teams

• Caregiver Training/Fellowship Groups

• Benefits assistance

• Matching ideas from caregiver focus groups to church’s strengths

What is a Faith-based Caregiver Support Program?

Tying it All Together

Community Organizing Specialist• Culturally competent, familiar with area

• Recruiting additional community partners

Americorps VISTA• Trained in capacity-building

Tying it All Together, cont.

Leadership Council Members• Four original regional partner agencies• Leaders from local church projects• Older adults, caregivers, businesspeople

Duties• Project guidance • Sustainability

Progress to Date

• Project Kickoff Dinner

• Asset-mapping

• Caregiver focus groups

Kickoff Dinner

• Built on the connections made during proposal-writing

• 30 organizations represented

• Prayer

• State Rep. Will Davis

• Keynote Apostle Carl White, Jr.

• Call to action, collaboration

Asset-mapping

• Strengths-based approach

• Looking at individuals, associations, organizations

• Congregants & community members

• Foundation for project design

• Database for future use

Focus Groups

• At least one per local partner

• Phone interviews, surveys as needed

• Questions to inform local project design

• Feedback on draft outreach materials

• Questions to inform regional service improvements

Next steps

• Newsletter• Toolkits• Local project plans• Leadership Training (faith component)• Appreciative Inquiry• Webpage

Lessons in Building Faith Partnerships

• Start early!• Gain local credibility through networking• Align with community priorities• Educate: “Who is a caregiver?”Balance is key:• Recruiting capable partners while keeping a

selective application process• Having clear expectations for partner churches

while encouraging input

Questions or Comments?

Sarah Stein

Countywide Caregiver Coordinator

AgeOptions

(708)383-0258

Sarah.stein@ageoptions.org