Healthy Aging Partnership
HAP is a coalition of more than 30 nonprofit, government and community organizations primarily in King County, Washington. We offer a wealth of information and resources to older adults and caregivers through education, outreach and promotion of a free confidential information and assistance line: 1-888-4elders.
HAP's Aging at Home Initiative
In June of 2010 HAP offered 4 grants of up to $5,000 to implement projects in King County as part of our Aging at Home Initiative. The initiative is an effort to support people who plan to grow old in their homes and stay active in their communities. The intent of the grants is to enhance community-led efforts that coordinate innovative services, products, activities, and technologies to encourage safe, happy, and affordable aging at home.
The grants encouraged teams of community members to implement collaborative projects in their communities. To be eligible, project teams needed to include a minimum of four members with at least two members being 55 years of age or older, and a 501 (c) 3 agency to serve as the fiscal sponsor.
HAP is delighted to announce that the following projects were the recipients of the Aging at Home grants:
- The Brighton Senior Farm—Seattle Tilth, PugetSound FoodNetwork, and the Brighton Apartments are some of the organizations currently working with the Southeast Seattle Senior Foundation to expand a local P-patch into a more active farm to incorporate more of the local senior community. Because many of the local seniors come from a farming background, it is hoped that the farm will create an environment where seniors can be active in a group setting that may provide part-time work and volunteer opportunities. The secondary purpose is to create a sustainable farm that provides affordable organic vegetables to senior citizens.
- Sammamish Cares—Sammamish cares is a team effort by local service organizations (the Sammamish Rotary, Sammamish Kiwanis Club, Habitat for Humanity and Faith in Action) and the City of Sammamish to address the needs of residents who lack the financial means and/or physical capability to repair and maintain their homes and properties to be safe, secure, and meet community standards. Volunteers from the service organizations will perform all labor.
- Kin On Intergenerational Multimedia Story-telling Project—Teen volunteers from Kin On Community Health Care will meet weekly with seniors from the community to help them record and share their stories. Stories will be transcribed and put online on Kin ON’s Facebook page where friends and family can read them and respond. Local high school students will also be involved by using the stories as inspirations for various art forms such as print, drama and poetry. Additionally, Kin On hopes to provide workshops that supplement the story telling such as Facebook 101 and How to use Email. At the end of the year the collection of stories will be made in a yearbook and sold to provide funds to continue the project.
- South Park Fall Prevention and Fitness Program—The South Park Senior Program at the South Park Neighborhood Center (SPNC), in collaboration with the Seattle Parks and Recreation South Park Community Center (SPCC), will establish a new exercise and fall prevention program. The program will consist of weekly sessions just prior to an existing senior evening meal program on Mondays and Fridays. They will also offer two eight-week Matter of Balance classes in the South Park area as well as 3 health and wellness events on emergency preparedness. We look forward to sharing the progress of these projects.
Questions?
For answers to your questions about health, wellness and everyday living as an older adult, call 1-888-4elders or email info@seniorservices.org.
For answers to questions about the Healthy Aging Partnership, email info@4elders.org.