Greetings!
We’re back with a second installment of year-end giving ideas.
(And we’re delighted to share that some of you have already raised your hands to support the programs we featured
last week
!)
This week, we bring you three funding opportunities that focus on fighting poverty.
We believe that our Valley is only as strong as its most vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, significant barriers -- like the high cost of housing -- stand in the way of local families’ ability to thrive.
Our work in this area tends to focus on providing assistance to those who are most at risk of falling through the cracks, like immigrants, young children and people facing mental or physical health challenges. We also invest in programs that help families build assets and skills that will enable them to move out of poverty; and on systems-level changes (for example, in housing) that promise to help dozens or hundreds of households at a time.
Today’s edition is about seniors: a population that often is overlooked and underserved.
The nonprofits featured below all work to increase self-sufficiency for the older adults who call Napa Valley home.
All organizations and projects have been vetted, and all have funding gaps that deserve to be closed, in our view.
If you’d like to support any of them and have a giving Fund with us, you can recommend a grant by logging into your DonorCentral account from the homepage on our
website.
You also can give directly to any of these organizations by contacting their Executive Directors.
Next week our third, and final chapter, will focus on championing community.
With best wishes for a joyful season,
Rejane Brito & Julia DeNatale
Philanthropic Engagement Staff
Napa Valley Community Foundation
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Hot meals are delivered to elderly residents around the Valley
What’s needed: $10,000 for the Senior Nutrition program
People served: 512 seniors in Napa County
What they do: Senior Nutrition is CANV’s moniker for its Meals on Wheels (MOW) and congregate senior meal programs around the Valley, collectively dishing up 119,600 meals annually. For 44 years, MOW has delivered nutritious meals to low-income seniors who are homebound and unable to shop for and/or prepare their own meals. From American Canyon to Calistoga, MOW serves 276 homes with approximately 2,300 meals delivered Monday through Friday (including some weekend meals for the most frail and isolated clients). Most clients are “food insecure,” which means they struggle to have enough income to pay for nourishing food on a daily basis; the majority of clients live alone. The nonprofit utilizes a cadre of volunteers and local commercial kitchens to keep costs down. These visits meet more than nutritional needs; a daily check-in by MOW drivers provides beneficial social interaction, as well as the ability to monitor for potential safety and health issues, falls and other accidents or emergencies. MOW’s clients with chronic or debilitating illnesses, like COPD, congestive heart failure, hypertension and diabetes, as well as those with physical disabilities, can receive regular registered nurse visits through the “Wellness on Wheels” program. In this program, a nurse communicates with the senior’s physician around an individualized care plan, and keeps an eye out for any changes in health. For the 40 or so CANV clients enrolled so far, this additional service has proven to reduce hospitalization, emergency room visits and nursing home use by as much as 30 percent. Additionally, a recent partnership with Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch, “Woof on Wheels,” helps to provide pet food and veterinarian care to the four-legged friends of seniors whose only companion may be a dog or cat. Seniors who aren’t homebound -- but are at risk of isolation -- can gather weekly at one of three congregate meal sites up and down the Valley for a hot meal, games and camaraderie.
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Volunteers help older adults and people living with disabilities get around
What’s needed: $3,000 for general support
People served: 575 individuals, ages 60 and older
What they do: Molly's Angels was founded in 1999 with the mission of filling gaps for families in crisis. Today, the nonprofit’s flagship program provides free transportation to and from medical, dental and eyecare appointments for seniors and individuals with disabilities who cannot drive themselves. Most of Molly’s Angels’ clients have health conditions that prevent them from driving, and do not have family support upon which they can rely. Research indicates that older adults who are no longer able to drive attend fewer medical appointments, and Medicare covers only emergency medical trips, like those that require transportation by ambulance. The organization’s goal is to help people live independently for as long as possible with confidence and dignity. To that end, volunteers also make nearly 3,000 wellness check-in calls annually to help alleviate loneliness and isolation. The nonprofit partners with dozens of local nonprofits so it can refer its clients to other support services as needed, like if volunteers notice signs of depression or other emerging issues in a client during a call or ride. Volunteers also help by obtaining surplus food items from local purveyors and delivering them to the seniors they serve. Molly's Angels relies on 50 volunteers to provide more than 2,900 rides every year to 575 clients in Napa County; 72 percent of volunteers are seniors themselves.
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Up Valley seniors stay social
What’s needed:
$7,500 for general support
People served:
1,000 individuals, ages 55 and older
What they do:
The St. Helena-based Rianda House offers a wide variety of classes and activities to residents ages 55 and older. The goal: help these adults, who mostly live in St. Helena and Calistoga, stay socially engaged, active and independent. Rianda House is currently the only nonprofit whose sole focus is providing the senior population up Valley, from Yountville to Pope Valley, with opportunities for social gatherings and community engagement. The nonprofit conducts a variety of daily programming geared toward caring for the mental and physical wellbeing of the Valley’s senior population, like Brain Fitness, Tai Chi, and exercise classes for people with Parkinson’s disease. Other offerings include a writer’s group, meditation classes and help navigating everything from health insurance to computers and mobile phones. Rianda House also has options for the caregivers of seniors, like a support group for coping with memory loss, elder abuse prevention and legal clinics. The agency has worked to beef up its offerings to Latina/o elders, and runs weekly wellness classes in Spanish, as well. The nonprofit partners with 22 local, senior-serving agencies to provide its 27 weekly classes onsite, as well as to accept referrals for more intensive services, when needed. Last year, Rianda House saw nearly 1,000 older adults.
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