The Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative is pleased to promote new funding opportunities to support inclusive age- and dementia community/regional efforts. Aside from these initiatives, other available grant opportunities can be found in our previous post here.

• The Connection, Health, and Equity through Food (CHEF) Program

The CHEF Program is a collaborative network of organizations and volunteer initiatives across Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Upstate New York that are focused on increasing older adults’ equitable access to healthy food and social connection.

CHEF grants will provide funding to increase older adults’ equitable access to food and social connections in their communities. Grants will allow awardees to make investments in programmatic infrastructure, sustainably expand current programming and/or launch innovative, new programming that supports the food and social connection needs of older people. Priority will be given to projects and programs that serve diverse older people, veterans, and older people living with disabilities. Funds can also be used to help find solutions to the root causes of food insecurity and social isolation, including but not limited to poverty, transportation, rurality, and language barriers. Eligible applicants will operate in or near communities served by a Hannaford store in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York.

CHEF grant FAQs are available here. Applications, deadlines and further information are available here.

• Health Foundation of Central Mass. 2024 Activation Fund

The Health Foundation announced the opening of their 2024 Activation Fund grant opportunity to target community-identified health issues and support innovative approaches to addressing health issues in the region. This opportunity could potentially support age- and dementia friendly initiatives.

The Activation Fund supports discrete, one-year projects in Central Massachusetts (targeting between $60,000 and $125,000) aimed at helping an organization move to its next level of capacity and effectiveness that can be sustained over time. In general, grants are limited to a 12-month duration for projects that will not require ongoing fundraising beyond the end of the grant period. The Health Foundation does not name specific health issues or priority areas, instead looking to community-based organizations to identify health issues and potential solutions.

Funding guidelines and answers to frequently asked questions may be found on the Foundation’s website at thfcm.org. The deadline for submission of a concept paper is March 1, 2024. The initial application phase has been streamlined this year, so please attend an upcoming information session to learn about the changes.

INFORMATION SESSIONS

Interested organizations are encouraged to attend an information session to learn about the modified application timeline and process in 2024. Virtual information sessions will be held on Tuesday, January 23 at 2:00 p.m. and Thursday, February 8 at 10:00 a.m. with time set aside for Q&A with attendees during these sessions and afterwards during posted office hours. Please complete the Info Session Registration Form to sign up for an information session. A recording will be available upon request. Please contact Foundation staff in advance if language assistance or other accessibility accommodations are needed.