ST. PAUL, MN - Governor Tim Walz today announced over $6 million in new state grants to keep Minnesotans in their homes as they age. The Live Well at Home grants will support more than 30 organizations, funding services such as retrofitting residences to make them age-friendly and providing support for caregivers.

“Living at home provides people with identity, comfort, and community,” said Governor Walz. “As so many families know, the choice to move, or have a family member move, to a nursing home can be an extremely difficult one. These grants are helping older adults maintain their independence and significantly improve quality of life for Minnesotans as they age.” 

Most people prefer staying in their homes and research shows when they’re able to stay longer they are happier and have better health outcomes compared to people entering institutionalized care like nursing homes or assisted living facilities.

“These grants support what most people want,” said Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead. “It’s a cost-effective investment in their health and happiness.”

Grantees include:

Northern Minnesota

- ElderCircle, Grand Rapids, $295,000. The project will streamline community-based services for informal caregivers like family members. Services will help veterans, solo agers, and others 65 and older.
- Lighthouse Center for Vital Living, Duluth, $311,000. The "Empowering Older Adults" project will benefit 600 older adults and 250 caregivers in multiple Minnesota Arrowhead counties by promoting older adults’ safety, self-reliance and quality of life. Services will include in-home occupational therapy, assistive technology, device loans, technology training, activities to combat social isolation, caregiver support, and home modifications.
- North Shore Area Partners, Silver Bay, $60,000. Funding will provide direct in-home services and supports to 35 older adults living independently in their homes. Volunteer recruiting will increase. New programming will promote the health and well-being of older adults by coordinating with community partners to offer health, nutrition, and safety topics, financial fitness planning, and aging solo programming.
- Volunteer Services of Carlton County, $494,000. Funds will strengthen service capacity in assisted transportation, group respite, caregiver counseling, and chore services.
- Churches United in Ministry (Chum), Duluth, $111,000. To help older adults with histories of homelessness age in place, this project seeks to increase resident participation in professional services that support health, healing and stability, including medical, mental health, and recovery. Other objectives are reducing the numbers of residents who return to homelessness by keeping them involved with a community stabilized by safety, services, and on-site staffing.

Northwest Minnesota

- Knute Nelson, serving Minnesota and North Dakota, $607,000. The project aims to reduce unnecessary care transitions and improve mental health outcomes by supporting aging adults in Minnesota through care coordination, mental health promotion, and better access to culturally competent care to address the needs of older adults. Indicators of success will include improved service utilization, reduced care transitions, and better provider coordination.
- Living at Home of the Park Rapids Area, Park Rapids, $349,000. Collaborating with other service providers that work with rural older adults, this project will renovate a large space to deliver services to seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities. Additional resources include therapy delivery, exercise equipment, shared staff, access to a registered nurse, and quick availability to defibrillator machines.
- West Central Minnesota Communities Action, Elbow Lake $325,000. Reaching 11,000 older adults across five counties with homemaking, chores, and transportation. Funds will help expand the volunteer base, add a personal shopping service, and create a gig economy of chore contractors to deliver services while reducing travel time.

Southern Minnesota

- Benedictine Living Community, Rochester, $101,000. Updating and retrofitting an assisted living facility to replace 31 showers with accessible, walk-in ground level showers to promote resident independence and safety.
- Caregiver Response Effort & Service Team, Fairmont, $45,000. The project will help serve 250 older adults to stay in their homes while living active, social, healthy lives.
- Goodhue County Habitat for Humanity, Red Wing, $186,000. Grant funds will support the Aging in Place program that modifies homes to keep rural, low-income homeowners over age 65 living safely in their homes. The number of homeowners served each year will increase from six to 15.
- Rebuilding Together Minnesota, Minneapolis (serving southwestern Minnesota), $79,000. Continued expansion will serve five southwestern counties with accessibility modifications to 25 senior homeowners, including five ramp projects. Other objectives include increasing regional partnerships and expanding volunteer capacity.
- SEMCAC, Rushford, $229,000. This project will add a commercial kitchen to construction of a new facility in Austin. The facility will also house Austin Head Start classrooms, with office space for staff and offices for the Mower County Emergency Crisis Assistance.

Twin Cities

- Cha-Ami Japanese Cultural Center, St. Paul, $52,000. Grant funds will help address the cultural, social, and health needs of Japanese immigrants and their descendants in Minnesota. The primary goal is to provide tailored health and wellness services and facilitate social connections and support networks via cultural enrichment programs, health and wellness workshops, caregiver support groups, networking, and social events.
- DARTS, West St. Paul, $267,000. Offering affordable solutions to older adults in Dakota, Ramsey and Washington Counties. The project will extend existing home services into southern Ramsey County, increasing tech support reach and facilitated grocery shopping programs as well as older adults' access to home modifications, homemaking, and outdoor chores.
- Jewish Family and Children’s Service, Minneapolis, $149,000. Goals include case management to help screen participants and connect them with resources to fit their needs, culturally specific food security including a Kosher Meals on Wheels program and reduced social isolation through senior companions and community-building programming.
- Korean Service Center, Minneapolis, $143,000. Grant funds will focus on improving transportation, bedside services, and the respite training program. The project includes transportation to medical appointments, social services, and social activities; adding a 24-hour bedside care program for older adults who need it; and respite caregiver training for staff, family members, and volunteers.
- Neighborhood Network for Seniors, St. Paul, $60,000. Serving numerous neighborhoods, this project provides services to help resolve barriers that keep seniors from accomplishing independent activities of daily living. Grant funds will also expand the service area.
- Newtrax, White Bear Lake, $70,000 to expand senior circulator loops. These transportation loops have effectively decreased social isolation and will be tried with new, more urban communities.
- Pillsbury United Communities, Minneapolis, $213,000. This project will provide 500 seniors, across three neighborhoods with intergenerational services to decrease social isolation and improve physical and mental health among seniors, promoting long, healthy lives in their homes. Services include one-on-one, group and large events.
- Rakhma Grace, Minnetonka, $199,000. Seeking to improve accessibility, safety, and inclusion for people with dementia, the project includes installing an elevator, improving outdoor living areas, and making safety updates such as security cameras for enhanced oversight, dementia friendly toilets, and fail-safe exits.
- Rakhma Joy, St. Paul, $132,000. This project will increase capacity by 20% while enhancing safety and inclusion. Two new private bedrooms will accommodate more residents. Other improvements include outdoor living spaces, fail-safe exits, a fire system, and dementia-friendly designs.
- Rebuilding Together Minnesota, Minneapolis, $213,000. Serving seven metro counties, this project will provide home accessibility modifications to 50 low-income older adults and add ramps for 20 low-income older adult households.
- The Salvation Army, Minneapolis, $328,000. This project will renovate Booth Manor senior housing, a 157-unit development for older adults providing affordable, independent living where residents can engage with the community and age in place. Renovations include unit retrofits for people with mobility limitations and security, health, and safety improvements.
- Senior Community Services, Minnetonka, $145,000. This project addresses the need to expand and sustain HOME Program services in rural Minnesota. Services encompass a range of indoor and outdoor tasks, including chore services, lawn care, seasonal raking, snow removal, minor repairs, handyperson tasks, homemaking, cleaning, painting, safety assessments, safety device installation, and technology support.
- SEWA-AIFW, Minneapolis, $325,000. This project supports older adults with South Asian heritage by delivering tailored services including meals, chores, respite care, transportation assistance and chronic disease management. The project will prioritize person-centered and community-driven approaches to service delivery.
- Spirit Care Services, Minneapolis, $341,000. Project goals are to provide enhanced home care and support services tailored to the needs of elder Native Americans. Key objectives are strengthening caregiver supportive services, expanding community support, and promoting healthy aging to support high-risk elder Native Americans, using tools like transportation, respite services, homemaking, chore assistance, and assistive technology.
- TRUST, Minneapolis, $213,000. Health and wellness services will benefit 1,500 older adults through physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being programs that provide assistance, assessments, management, resources, support services, and educational opportunities. Chore home services will expand to serve 375 older adults. Transportation assist services will help another 1,500.
- Centro Tyrone Guzman, Minneapolis, $131,000. This project pilots a new model to train and engage Spanish-speaking college interns to provide free respite services for low-income Latino elders, including elders with Alzheimer’s disease. The goal is increasing support for Latino families so their loved ones can continue living in their home as they age and require more assistance.

Central Minnesota

- Benedictine Living Community, formerly known as Assumption Community Services, Cold Spring, $95,000. Serving six counties in and around St. Cloud, the project will expand accessible transportation services throughout rural Stearns County, the St. Cloud metro, and bordering counties. This project will add volunteer drivers, pilot a transportation provider for wheelchair accessible vehicles, and become a special transportation service provider.
- Helping Hands Outreach, Holdingford, $50,000. Grant funds will help address the increasing population of older adults and caregivers to help their quality of life and ability to live independently at home. The project will recruit volunteers to deliver free services, support family caregivers and reduce social isolation for older adults living in Benton, Morrison, and Stearns counties.