The Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation (AAACF) recently awarded over $1 million in grants from the Glacier Hills Legacy Fund (GHLF) to support vulnerable seniors and their caregivers in Washtenaw County. The GHLF was established through the generosity of Ann Arbor's Glacier Hills Senior Living Community and Trinity Health Senior Communities of Livonia, MI.

“AAACF is committed to creating enduring outcomes for vulnerable seniors,” says AAACF’s CEO Neel Hajra. “We are investing in programs, services, and research that will innovate and help Washtenaw County better serve the needs of our growing senior population.”

The 2010 U.S. census found 53,000 adults age 60+ in Washtenaw County. By 2040, this number will more than double, to 110,000. In response to the need for continued understanding of this population’s needs, AAACF commissioned comprehensive landscape scans to map the systems impacting the lives of vulnerable older adults.

More than $600,000 in investments were directed to a second year of funding for the winners of the 2018 Vital Seniors Competition, including building a supportive network of those grantees: Ypsilanti Meals on Wheels, Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County, Chelsea Senior Center, and the Area Agency on Aging 1-B.

Additional grants were made to support 1) safety-net funding to meet current, unmet basic needs of vulnerable older adults through the Washtenaw Coordinated Funders; 2) capacity-building for individual organizations and collaborations, and 3) emerging, responsive programming for seniors.

See below for a list of 2019 GHLF grants:

• Atlas of Caregiving – CareMaps
• Ypsilanti Meals on Wheels – Community Aging in Place Advancing Better Living for Elders (CAPABLE)
• Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County – Washtenaw Integrated Senior Experience; Congregational Social Worker
• Chelsea Senior Center – Rural Older Adults in Motion (R.O.A.M.)
• Area Agency on Aging 1-B – Reimagine Caregiving; Washtenaw Older Adults Count Initiative
• Washtenaw Health Initiative – Data Scientists
• National Council on Aging – Network Learning Collaborative
• Black and Brown Theater – Our Voices New Play Program
• Eastern Michigan University – Neighborhood Cares
• Huron Valley Ambulance – Community Paramedic
• Root Cause – Healthy Aging Landscape Mapping