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Guidelines for Grant Proposals in the Healthy Aging Program

Our Mission
The mission of the Foundation's Healthy Aging Program is to improve
the health care and overall quality of life for the elderly of New York City.
Our success will be measured by the positive impact that the program
has on people's lives.

Our Approach
The Foundation's Healthy Aging Program primarily funds patient-based
and social service activities that directly help the elderly of New York
City. It aims to improve the way health and social services are delivered
by providing support for innovative, effective, efficient and caring
organizations.We will consider funding high quality, direct service
providers who:

 

  • Increase/enhance access and availability of support, care or services especially for those with acute or chronic illness and those requiring palliative care.
  • Create positive, measurable changes in quality.
  • Demonstrate more cost-effective ways of delivering needed services.
  • Develop programs and provide services to those who are traditionally underserved, such as the immigrant and the economically disadvantaged elderly.
  • Increase the availability and quality of programs that allow older adults to remain in their homes and delay the need for long-term institutional care.
  • Improve the quality-of-life of the elderly who are residents of long-term care facilities.
  • Improve the way professionals (physicians, nurses, social workers) and paraprofessionals (nursing aides) care for older adults and help to increase the number of professionals and paraprofessionals who care for the growing elderly population.

Programs supported by the Foundation must meet a demonstrable need of New York City's aging population. They must be designed to deliver services or alter the behavior of either providers or consumers. They should meet current needs or lay the groundwork to meet future needs and must have the potential to become sustainable and self-sufficient without further funding from the Samuels Foundation. The Foundation is particularly concerned with the availability and quality of healthcare received by the elderly. Faced with the realization that the number of elderly people is growing, the Foundation is committed to using its grant funds to work toward changing the system for the better.

We give priority to programs that will remain in place and grow once our funding has ended. Therefore, we are looking to fund programs that are sustainable in the following ways:

  • The program continues to generate revenue, which supports the continued provision of services to the elderly.
  • The program is or will be eligible for, and takes advantage of reimbursement mechanisms either from insurance programs or federal, state or local entitlement programs.
  • The program will reduce the overall costs of delivering direct services. These savings will enable the organization or institution to continue the program after the grant term.
  • The program will continue with other grants or funding, and there is evidence that the organization has a track record of strong, continuing and reliable funding streams.

Eligibility and Selection Criteria
The Foundation makes grants almost exclusively to organizations in the five boroughs of New York City. Grants will be awarded only to recognized tax-exempt, publicly supported organizations. Applicant organizations must provide direct services to the elderly and have the experience and capability to demonstrate that each grant dollar provides the greatest benefit to the greatest number of patients and their families.

The Foundation's Healthy Aging Program does not give grants to individuals, nor will it provide funds for general operating support, conferences, bio-medical research, endowment campaigns, nor ongoing support of demonstrations beyond the period of the grant. Requests for capital or building projects are not funded unless necessary for program implementation.

Assuming that a proposed program meets the Foundation's geographic and programmatic guidelines, it will be reviewed using the following criteria:

  • The program will improve the overall quality of life of, or healthcare service delivery to New York City's elderly;
  • The program has a realistic, achievable work plan and a rational, well justified budget;
  • The program staff who are to perform the work are experienced and highly qualified;
  • The sponsoring organization is stable, competent and committed.

Application Procedure
Step One: Contact the Foundation and speak to a healthy aging program officer to discuss your idea or project.

Step Two: An applicant to the Foundation should then email a letter of inquiry. This should not exceed three pages (not including the cover sheet) and must be on the sponsoring institution's letterhead. The complete submission should include the following information:

1. A cover sheet with:

  • Legal name, address, phone, fax, e-mail and website addresses (if available) of the institution or organization.
  • Program Director's name address, phone, fax, and e-mail (if available)
  • Name and exact title of your organization's CEO
  • The program title
  • The program's duration
  • The total amount of the proposed project's budget
  • The total amount being requested from the Foundation for the project
  • A one-paragraph summary of your program

2. A three-page letter (1-inch margins, 12pt font) that clearly states the following:

  • The general problems and issues being addressed, and their importance.
  • A brief description of the nature of the program and its significance, with clear goals and objectives.
  • The recommended approach to care or services that represents an improvement over how services are delivered now; how the proposed program makes care or service provision better.
  • A description of the anticipated benefit of the program to older adults, including the number of individuals that will be impacted.
  • The program's overall significance.
  • A brief summary of the critical activities to be performed, the timeframe for the proposed program.
  • A brief breakdown of the projected budget including:
    • Total amount of the proposed project's budget.
    • Total amount being requested from the Foundation for the project.
    • Total amount committed from other funding sources and/or in-kind for the project.
  • If successful, the likelihood that the program will be continued by the institution and the proposed model of sustainability (i.e. reimbursement, cost savings, etc.).
  • The commitment of the sponsoring institution (e.g. contribution of salaries, space, overhead, etc.) during and after the grant term.


If You Are Interested In Applying to the Foundation Letters of inquiry may be sent at any time during the year to the attention of the Healthy Aging Program Committee. Email your letter of inquiry to Julio Urbina (jurbina@samuels.org). Please do not send any other supporting materials with your letter of inquiry. Once received, we will acknowledge the receipt of your letter by e-mail or phone call.

Next Steps: If your proposed program does not meet our criteria, you will be notified as soon as possible.

If the letter of inquiry meets the Foundation's criteria as detailed above, a full proposal may be invited. At that time the Foundation will share with you our specific guidelines and format to be used in the preparation of the proposal. Proposals will be carefully reviewed and may, when appropriate, be sent out for external evaluation. Site visits may be made where necessary. Personal discussions between applicants and Foundation staff are an integral part of the application process.

The Foundation's board meets quarterly and must approve all grants. If you are invited to submit a full proposal, we will work with you so that your program can be presented to the Board as quickly as possible. We will not, however, compromise quality and strength of a proposed program so that it can meet a perceived deadline. Applicants will be notified if they have been approved or declined for funding within two weeks of the relevant Board meeting.

Applicants should be aware that the Foundation receives many more requests for support than it can possibly fund and most applications are not approved. The Foundation does not assume responsibility for any costs incurred by applicants in the preparation of their submissions.

We are here to help, if at any time you have questions about our mission or our guidelines, please do not hesitate to contact our program staff at 212.239.3030 or e-mail us at:

Julio A. Urbina
Director, Healthy Aging Program
jurbina@samuels.org

Lauren G. Weisenfeld
Program Officer, Healthy Aging Program
lgweisenfeld@samuels.org
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