The Common Council approved $941,909 in grant allocation requests on Jan. 15 for agencies in Madison supporting older adult services.
Of 15 agencies around Madison, 13 were approved for funding as directed by the Community Development Division, which informed the Common Council alongside the Committee on Aging. The allocations are part of the council’s effort to provide more funding to agencies supporting people of color following results from an outside study that found these groups lack equal access to older adult services, District 4 Ald. Mike Verveer, who sits on the Committee on Aging, told the Cardinal.
“We need to do more for communities of color, and that’s why there was an emphasis on funding or prioritizing those organizations that serve communities of color in Madison,” Verveer said.
Some agencies funded include the Bayview Foundation, Goodman Community Center, Neighborhood House Community Center, Bridge Lake Point Waunona Neighborhood Center, NewBridge Madison, Freedom, Inc and Outreach, Inc.
This set of grants released following a six-month application process and a city council budget amendment allocating an additional $100,000 to the grant package. This amendment arose from testimonies and insights revealed throughout the process underscoring a greater need for older adult services than previously anticipated.
City staff collected and reviewed applications, then an outside panel of experts reviewed them before going to the Committee on Aging through public meetings and testimonies, Verveer said.
The combination of an increased older demographic and limited resources led to unexpected demand for the new funds, Verveer said. The demand exceeded the relatively small amount of resources available, which forced the council to make difficult decisions in funding.
“This is the first time in many years that the city look to provide additional funding for older adult services in our community, and it became quite clear once the application process began that there was way more demand than there were financial resources,” Verveer said.
As older adults become a larger share of residents in Madison and nationwide, Verveer said what funding is available should be used effectively.
The city also incentivized many agencies in the area to expand their programming to include support for older members of the community in order to receive Common Council funding through this grant program, according to Verveer.
Many of the agencies also fund programs for youth and early childhood education, benefitting other age groups within the communities they serve. Most agencies received less funding than requested since the city wanted to allow for a larger number of agencies in equity priority areas — regions that have a higher concentration of individuals reporting 51% low- to moderate-income — to receive funding.
The Madison Senior Center, which serves residents of senior living centers in the area, also received funding from the Common Council on the same night as the budget amendment for this set of grants.
“There's more need than ever to assist seniors, especially those of lower economic means, and an emphasis on allowing folks to age in a place that is allowing them to be able to live independently in their own homes,” said Verveer.
The Common Council will “rigorously evaluate” the budget for each agency annually, focusing on whether the money is well spent since allocating funds is very “labor intensive,” according to Verveer.
The contracts are expected to continue until the beginning of 2029.
