NEWS

Age-Friendly Funding Alerts: Community Compact IT Grant & Best Practice Programs, Mass Cultural Council, Funding Reminders

Aug 30, 2023

The Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative is pleased to promote the following funding opportunities to advance inclusive age- and dementia friendly communities:

The Community Compact IT Grant Program (different from the Best Practices Program below) is a competitive grant program focused on driving innovation and transformation at the local level via investments in technology. Communities working to become more age- and dementia friendly have accessed this funding to improve digital equity among older adults.

Grants of up to $200,000 support the implementation of innovative IT projects by funding related one-time capital needs such as technology infrastructure or software. Incidental or one-time costs related to the capital purchase such as planning, design, installation, implementation and initial training are eligible.

The FY24 program will open on September 11, 2023 and close on October 13, 2023 at Noon.

  • Community Compact Best Practice Program (Commonwealth of Mass., awards made on a rolling basis until funds are exhausted)

Several communities working to become more age- and dementia friendly have received support through the state’s Community Compact Best Practice Program. The funding program is a voluntary, mutual agreement entered into between the Healey-Driscoll Administration and individual cities and towns of the Commonwealth.

In a Community Compact, a community will agree to implement at least one best practice that they select from across a variety of areas. The community’s chosen best practice(s) will be reviewed between the Commonwealth and the municipality to ensure that the best practice(s) chosen are unique to the municipality and reflect needed areas of improvement.

Age- and Dementia Friendly Best Practices are among the list of options from which communities can choose.

The program opened on August 21st and remains open until funding runs out. Municipal leadership was notified via email from Lieutenant Governor Driscoll with the link to apply to the program. The Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative encourages age- and dementia friendly community stakeholders to work with their local leaders to apply.

Mass Cultural Council funds and manages a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils (LCCs) across the state, representing every city and town in the Commonwealth. Each council awards money based on individual community cultural needs, assessed and set by LCC members. Applicants apply directly to local councils.

Age- and dementia friendly community stakeholders can find more info here.

Funding Reminders:

A new $1.45M grant opportunity is available from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA), funded by the American Rescue Plan Act Home and Community-Based Services. The Hybrid Programming for COAs Grant will support Councils on Aging (COAs) in Massachusetts to begin or strengthen their ability to deliver hybrid (in-person and virtual) programs for older adult residents.

COAs must apply online before September 25th, 2023 using the MassGRANTS application portal. Applicants can create partnerships to apply together. One COA may apply for up to $100,000; two COAs may apply for up to $200,000; three or more COAs may apply for up to $300,000. EOEA anticipates that grant awards will be made in January 2024, and COAs will have through March 2025 to expend funds.

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council is offering another round of Accelerating Climate Resilience Municipal Grants to help advance strategies that protect people, places, and communities from the impacts of climate change.

For FY24, MAPC is offering one-year grants for technical assistance, programs, capacity building, and capital improvement / construction projects.

More info, including registration for an informational webinar on 8/21, is available here.

REMINDERS on previously announced age-friendly funding opportunities:

Eligible applicants for ADA Improvement Grants include any Massachusetts city or town. These grants will support capital improvements specifically dedicated to improving programmatic access and/or removing barriers encountered by persons with disabilities in applicant facilities throughout the Commonwealth.  Grants will be awarded to successful applicants to remove barriers and create and improve accessible features and programmatic access for persons with disabilities throughout the Commonwealth.

More information is available here.

  • MassDOT Safe Routes to Schools’ “Signs and Lines” Program – Now Open

Communities working to become more age- and dementia friendly may be interested in the MassDOT Safe Routes to School Program, which to launch both the Signs & Lines Program AND the Infrastructure Grant Program at the same time this year. Older adults benefit from the same safety improvements as students walking and bicycling to school and so age and dementia friendly stakeholders can be valuable partners in pursuing grant support.

Both application periods opened on Wednesday, August 23, 2023 with one informational webinar. MassDOT encourages municipal staff, school and school district staff, SRTS task force members, and anyone else interested in Safe Routes to School to attend. MassDOT will provide details on both application processes and expected project timelines, as well as review some examples of eligible and ineligible projects. The webinar will wrap up with a Q&A session.

All application materials will be available on the Engineering page of the Safe Routes to School website when the grant programs launch on August 23, 2023. More information will be shared on an August 23rd webinar and those interested can register here.