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Age-Friendly Mini-Grants 2020

Learn About the 2019 Grantees

Learn About the 2018 Grantees

About the Miami-Dade Age-Friendly Initiative

The Miami-Dade Age-Friendly Initiative is a collaborative, collective impact effort to make Miami-Dade a place for older adults of all ages to stay active and healthy with dignity and enjoyment. We work with community residents, leaders, stakeholders, organizations, and municipalities toward a more age-friendly community.

About the Age-Friendly Mini-Grant Program

The Miami-Dade Age-Friendly Initiative, a collaborative effort to make Miami-Dade County a place where older adults can stay active, engaged, and healthy with dignity and enjoyment awarded five Age-Friendly Mini-Grants to local organizations to help jump-start age-friendly projects across the county. The projects were each selected based on their ability to address community needs as identified through the 2017 Age-Friendly Community Survey. The survey helped to understand the current state of needs and areas of urgency for the county. Each organization was awarded a $2,500 mini-grant.

Results and experiences of funded projects will help promote age-friendly thinking and action among others. The mix of mini-grants demonstrates that municipal governments, nonprofits, universities, faith groups, and others can play important roles in making Miami-Dade age-friendly. Among the programs supported by the Age-Friendly Mini-Grants this year are: City of Miami EMPOWER 60, Miami Workers Center, Mind & Melody, Inc., Miami-Dade County Community Action and Human Services Department, and Seniors in Action.

Meet the 2020 Mini-Grantees!

1. City of Miami EMPOWER 60

The City of Miami is looking to build and enhance civic leadership and community liaisons in the older adult communities. The Mini-Grant will kick off the City of Miami’s EMPOWER60 Program, a 4-week academy designed for older adults to learn the best practices of engaging and working with local government. Participants will be given the tools and resources to become more knowledgeable members of the community, resulting in effective neighborhood leaders advocating for healthier, thriving neighborhoods. This project will help residents 60 and over improve their quality of life and advocacy skills through their own civic engagement. EMPOWER60 will foster community building, engagement, and relationship building with local government and fellow neighbors.

(Age-Friendly Domains: Civic Participation and Employment)

2. Miami Workers Center

MWC seeks to shift power into the hands of women impacted by the feminization of poverty and to build movements that center the experiences, realities, and leadership of those most impacted by social injustice- low-income Black and Brown women. MWC members are between 32 and 64 years old, with a slightly larger percentage in their mid-40s and 50s. The Mini-Grant will provide MWC with the funding to make upgrades to their building in order to accommodate elderly members. This will include upgrades to the entryway and to the floors in the building. The building is formally a warehouse that was built over 50 years ago. With an aging membership, these upgrades will ensure members can safely access the building.

(Age-Friendly Domains: Outdoor Spaces and Buildings)

3. Mind & Melody, Inc.

Mind&Melody brings interactive music programs for seniors and children of all abilities to foster joy, love, and connection. With the support of the Mini-Grant, the program will foster meaningful connections between elementary-age students and Foster Grandparents (FC) age 55+ through after-school interactive programs. These virtual programs will include a music segment designed and co-facilitated by Mind&Melody and FC. Foster Grandparents will connect with and mentor elementary-age students with exceptional or special needs to help increase their literacy, social & emotional development, and overall academic engagement.

(Age-Friendly Domains: Social Participation; Community Support & Health Services)

4. Miami-Dade County Community Action and Human Services Department (CAHSD)

Since 1980, Miami-Dade County Community Action and Human Services Department’s (CAHSD) Elderly and Disability Services Division have delivered case management and services designed to promote independent living for seniors and persons with disabilities. The Age-Friendly Mini-Grant will allow CAHSD to install two iPad kiosks at its Edison Little River Adult Day Care Center, providing participants with Internet access and technology trainings. Kiosks will be designed to create a private area for virtual socialization, Telehealth services, and other technology-related activities. The goal is to connect participants to loved ones in order to proactively prevent mental distress caused by loneliness.

(Age-Friendly Domains: Social Participation; Communication & Information; Community Support & Health Services; Respect & Social Inclusion)

5. Seniors in Action

South Florida Seniors in Action (SFSiA) aims to make health, wellness, and nutrition a priority in our community. Loneliness and depression are the number one cause of death among the aging American population. SFSiA is determined to fight elder isolation by innovating and providing services to keep seniors engaged and active. The Mini-Grant will be used to provide Miami Dade seniors with mini-seminars that will cover topics of transportation, mobility, health care, personal care, wellness, and nutrition. In times of isolation and quarantine, older people need safe access to nutritious food, basic supplies, money, medicine, and social care. Dissemination of accurate information is critical to ensuring that seniors have clear messages on how to stay physically and mentally healthy during the pandemic.

(Age-Friendly Domains: Social Participation; Community Support & Health Services; Respect & Social Inclusion)

Mini-Grant Program Requirements & Important Dates

Recipients will receive technical assistance for implementation and will be asked to attend at least one Age-Friendly Initiative meeting to talk about their project.
Please note the following important dates and deadlines:

~~December 18, 2020~~ EXTENDED to January 7, 2021 – Mini-grant Application Submission Deadline
End of January 2021 – Notification of winners & MOUs will be Provided to Recipients
February-July 2021 – Mini-Grant Implementation
April 2021 – Check-In Update Due
August 13, 2021 – Mini-Grant Recipient Reports Due

Learn About the 2019 Grantees

Learn About the 2018 Grantees

Lead Agencies

Our partners include the following lead agencies: AARP Florida, Alliance for Aging, Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County, Health Foundation of South Florida, Miami-Dade County, Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization, United Way of Miami-Dade, and Urban Health Partnerships.