The country’s largest Jewish-centric foundation, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, announced that it will give $8.1 million to 14 organizations that help families and friends who are the primary caregivers to their chronically ill, disabled and elderly loved ones.
The grants, which are part of the foundation’s Family and Informal Caregiver Support Program, are intended to help innovative projects that help train and educate informal caregivers.
According to the Weinberg foundation, some 30 million adults provide ongoing care for family and friends and 75 percent of their care is provided by family members and other informal caregivers.
“For many older adults living with debilitating illness and disabilities, the need for support stems from several factors, including greater financial need, lack of access to health care, unexpected health costs, and isolation from family members,” Shale D. Stiller, the president of the Weinberg Foundation, said in a release announcing the grants. “Our goal is to provide support for the programs that will work directly to support and develop networks of family and informal caregivers.”
Among the grantees, three are Jewish:
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Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Sarasota-Manatee (Sarasota, FL) will receive a grant of $708,229 for its Caregivers Accessing Resources and Essential Services (CARES) project. CARES introduces a widely used approach to planning and delivering services to children, known as Wraparound Services, to older adult caregivers. Through this project, caregivers will receive respite care and homemaker services from local volunteers.
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Jewish Healthcare Foundation (Pittsburgh, PA) will receive a grant of $300,000 for its Caregiver Champions program. Caregiver Champions are older adults with caregiving experience providing peer support and counseling along with assistance in gaining access to services through monthly gatherings in their homes. Through this project caregivers will have direct contact with major service providers and will receive homecare, respite care, nutrition services, and personal lifestyle programs.
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Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation (New Hyde Park, NY) will receive a grant of $300,000 to support Willing Hearts, Helpful Hands. The project will recruit, train, and deploy volunteer respite care workers in Eastern Queens (Hyde Park) and Western Long Island. The project will deploy trained volunteers to step in for family and informal caregivers in an emergency or recurring basis.
For the full list of grantees, check out the press release.
