More than one in five older adults live in a rural designated community, yet only 7% of private philanthropic investments are directed towards rural areas. Older people in rural areas face a range of challenges related to mobility, economic security, housing, and health care. While older people across the nation face similar challenges, the physical and social isolation that can occur in a rural setting compounds problems and makes it even more difficult to age in a community, safely and well.
Since 2014, GIA has been leading efforts to connect and support rural funders and expand the resources and services available to older adults in rural areas.
Rural Health and Aging Funders Community
Rural Health and Aging Funders Community provides a forum for funders investing in improving the health and well-being of older people in rural areas. Launched in 2019, the Community now includes more than 30 funders concerned with improving the quality of life for older people in rural areas.
Resources
An Introduction to Grantmakers in Rural Aging
New Frontiers for Funding provides guidance specifically for grantmakers supporting rural areas, including how to get started; where those already working in the field see the greatest potential and greatest need; where to locate the right partners and grantees; why focusing early on program sustainability is essential; how to define and measure success; examples of programs that are working; the importance of working creatively with government; and how working on rural aging issues can increase the impact of many different kinds of philanthropies.
Blind Spot: Mobility and Aging in Rural America
This report examines the mobility challenges that confront older people in rural communities across America and profiles some of the programs that exist to support them.
Mobility & Aging in Rural America: The Role for Innovation
This funding guide offers grantmaking recommendations to help funders become engaged in rural mobility and suggests a dynamic research and policy agenda to empower older people in rural places to lead fuller lives. Get insights about what's already working and what is possible from the perspective of providers and thought leaders. The Future of Rural Transporation and Mobility for Older Adults: Current Trends and Future Directors in Technology-enabled Solutions is a companion white paper that examines rural mobility through a lens of technology and across a longer timeframe.
Heartache, Pain, and Hope: Rural Communities, Older People, and the Opioid Crisis
This document contains two main sections. The first section, "Places, People and Systems: Understanding the Problem," examines the crisis caused by opioids in rural communities, particularly the impact on the lives of many older individuals. The second section, "Governments, Communities, and Funders Respond," focuses on potential solutions, exploring a variety of promising initiatives that governments, communities, and funders are already implementing and that require further support and expansion.