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Grants in Action
Dominican Sisters Home Health Agency of Denver
Objective: To provide housekeeping services to frail and low-income older adults in metro Denver.
Impact: Catholic nuns started the Dominican Sisters Home Health Agency of Denver (DSHHA) in 1923, providing nursing care to elderly and poor individuals. While only Sister Regis Nuva remains on staff, the nuns’ influence continues to be a part of the character of the organization – one that exists to serve those in greatest need. “The majority of our clients live on less than $10,000 a year,” says Donna Heath, the executive director. In addition to nursing care and medical equipment, DSHHA provides housekeeping services to help older adults and others stay in their homes. “My laundry room is in the basement and I don’t go up and down stairs very well,” says client Luella Stadig. Stadig also receives regular visits from a nurse who fills her pill trays. According to Heath, “All of our housekeeping staff is trained to look for medical issues. This has really become a way for us to do early intervention.” In 2008, Dominican Sisters made 26,000 home visits, 6,400 of which were to provide housekeeping services.
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Enterprise Community Partners
Objective: To preserve or create at least 1,200 affordable homes along transit corridors in Denver.
Impact: For many older adults and low-income individuals and families, public transportation is a lifeline. In 2008, Rose Community Foundation granted $525,000 from its Aging and Child and Family Development program areas to seed a transit-focused loan fund in Denver to be administered by Enterprise Community Partners. Enterprise is a nonprofit organization that works to ensure the availability of affordable housing across the nation. In Denver, a primary focus is the establishment of a $15 million fund that will be used by a local nonprofit, Urban Land Conservancy (ULC), which has also invested $1 million. “We are working to identify and buy properties along major transit corridors that ensure permanent affordable housing,” says Aaron Miripol, ULC’s president and CEO. With the real estate market down, he says, “Now is the time to purchase strategic properties with our nonprofit partners.” The City of Denver, Colorado Housing and Finance Authority and several banks and national foundations are also contributors to the loan fund.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Grant profiles from Rose Community Foundation's 2008 Annual Report
Farther down on this page:
“There is no question that the senior population is going to grow over the next decade. Access to transit allows older adults to age in place.”
– Melinda Pollack, senior program director for Enterprise Community Partners