Grants will provide more than $736,000 in funding to agencies in St. Louis City
The recently established St. Louis City Senior Fund has awarded up to $736,729 through its first inaugural set of tax-funded grants to 17 agencies that serve St. Louis City seniors. The Senior Fund was established in 2016 when St. Louis voters approved the use of tax dollars to help seniors age in place, as a result of the Seniors Count Campaign.
Some estimates say the cost for a senior to reside in an assisted living facility is five times the cost of living in their own home.
“Through the Senior Fund, the voters of St. Louis City have created a consistent and stable source of funding to support residents ages 60+ age in community,” said Senior Fund Executive Director Jamie Opsal. “Our Missouri legislators recently cut two vital services affecting seniors statewide (Circuit Breaker and MORx). Voters that understand both the humanitarian and economic side of these issues know that the best use of our tax dollars is to help seniors live comfortably at home for as long as they choose to do so and can do so safely.”
The grantees for the phase one funding cycle are: Jewish Family and Children Services, Mission: St. Louis, Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired, City Seniors Inc., North Side Youth and Senior Services, OASIS Institute, Paraquad, Rebuilding Together – St. Louis, St. Andrew’s, Deaconess Nurse Ministry, Kingdom House, Lutheran Senior Services, St. Louis Area Agency on Aging, Cardinal Ritter Senior Services, Heat Up St. Louis, Housing Options Provided for the Elderly (HOPE), and Missouri Energy Care.
For the first round of funding the Senior Fund Board prioritized programs that address three focus areas: fall prevention, economic instability, and weatherization & utility assistance. Funding priorities were determined via a community needs assessment that included input from surveys completed by St. Louis City seniors, care providers and caregivers. The seven board members are Bill Siedhoff (Chair), Cynthia Crim (Vice Chair), Ann Bannes, Chauncey “Skip” Batchelor, Theresa Mayberry, Sister Mary Ann Nestel, and Karl Wilson.
The St. Louis City Senior Fund is a quasi-governmental agency funded by a property tax in the City of St. Louis. The Senior Fund is the 55th fund of its kind in the state of Missouri. In less than a year after being established, the Senior Fund board has been successful in establishing processes and financial controls to vet social services agencies and award funding to ensure St. Louis City seniors see the benefit of these services as soon as possible.