Content excerpted from foundation press release. Read the full release here.

The Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation (AAACF) recently launched Vital Seniors: A Community Innovation Competition, a $2.5 million initiative sponsored by the Glacier Hills Legacy Fund at the community foundation.

Prizes will range from $50,000 to $500,000 for innovative projects that provide actionable solutions to challenges faced by seniors, their families and caregivers. The competition is open to organizations in Washtenaw County.

AAACF shares that by 2040, the number of adults age 60 plus in Washtenaw County will more than double, as will the number of seniors in poverty, highlighting the need to develop innovative models to address issues facing the aging.

The community foundation said that it’s particularly interested in innovations addressing independent living support; safe/affordable housing; health; transportation/mobility; and caregivers.

The competition is the largest competition dedicated to seniors in North America, aimed to shape local innovations that can serve as models across the country.

The competition strengthens AAACF’s longstanding commitment to seniors and complements enhanced grantmaking for ongoing programs and services for seniors and their caregivers through its new $16 million Glacier Hills Legacy Fund permanent endowment.

Want more?

Learn more about the competition.

We'll hear from the Ann Arbor Community Foundation about its efforts at the upcoming Michigan Grantmakers in Aging Affinity Group convening in Lansing on April 10. Register today!