At Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation (LAMV-CF), we have the unique privilege to listen to a robust chorus of voices that inform and educate us and spotlight local issues.

In recent months, it has become increasingly clear that local senior citizens need urgent support to:

• Address fundamental food & housing insecurity, exacerbated by the pandemic
• Combat ongoing isolation via improved technology access and mental health services;
• Safely increase their independence by addressing commonly faced challenges like visual impairment, emergency preparedness, and home safety

May is Older Americans month, an opportune time to announce a series of grants specifically geared to organizations serving vulnerable seniors. We are awarding $102,000 in Community Grants to 17 deserving local organizations. Initiative partner Forum Health Fund is also providing financial support of $6,600 to three organizations to maximize funding for their respective projects. A list of all grant recipients can be found here.

Our participatory grantmaking committee, composed of residents from our service areas of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, and Mountain View, evaluates and recommends grants for approval by the LAMV-CF Board of Directors.

I never realized just how vulnerable senior citizens in our area can be. We live in such a wealthy area that not everyone understands that many people who have lived here their whole lives are actually struggling to make ends meet and take care of basic needs.

Jim Malone, a committee member representing Los Altos Hills

In addition to funding projects for longtime grantees such as Community Services Agency (CSA), who will be purchasing a wheelchair-accessible vehicle devoted to senior services, the Foundation is pleased to award funding to several new grantees, including Bay Area Housing Corporation (BAHC). 

We are grateful for this grant to the Making Homes Work/Una Casa Mas Fund, benefiting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), especially those who are reliant on elderly parents as their caretakers. By assisting low-income families with modifications to address access and functional needs, local residents can ensure their loved ones remain safely in their homes and familiar surroundings.

Kristine McCann of BAHC

Supporting vulnerable seniors will continue to be a focus for the Foundation. We are looking forward to holding Community Conversations to raise awareness of the challenges facing our elderly population and to initiate another round of funding in the fall.

Contact Nadja Jackson, Program Officer at LAMV-CF, if you are interested in learning about the issues facing our senior population and how to help the organizations serving this population.

LAMV-CF’s Community Grants program is operated in partnership with the David and Lucille Packard and Heising-Simons Foundations.