The United Methodist Committee on Older Adult Ministries, meeting in March 2006, faced an exciting but difficult task: determining the disbursement of grant funds available for this year.

You will realize the difficulty of the task when I tell you that we received 91 applications requesting a total of $211,500, but we had only $38,000 to award in grants to 29 applications.

Excitement came as the wonderful proposals were prayerfully and carefully read and the vision of such great possibilities was imagined. Then came the heartbreaking task of reducing allocations, and finally eliminating those that could not be funded. The recommendations were presented to the full committee for final decision, and our hearts were saddened and burdened by the necessity of having to turn down over two-thirds of the applications because the Committee had only enough funding for 29 grants.

We congratulate those who received an award, and we express our deep regrets to those who did not. The good news is that all those applications not funded can be resubmitted for 2007, when we will again have $38,000 toaward. The deadline for submission is January 15, 2007.

Grants for 2006

Following is a list of other grants awarded by the Committee on Older Adult Ministries this year.

• Caring Friendship Ministry
  Jewell County United Methodist Parish
  Mankato, KS
  Phone:785-794-2203
  Awarded: $1375
• Key Stewart Older Adult Ministry
  Key Stewart United Methodist Church
  Gallatin, Tenn
  Phone: 615-451-1705
  Awarded: $900
• Crime Victims Council
  Central Texas Conference
  Fort Worth, Texas
  Phone: 817-675-6367
  Awarded: $1,000
• Memory Sharing Connectional Ministry
  Red Bird Mission
  Beverly, KY
  Phone: 606-598-0520
  Awarded: $1,625
• Kay Senior Care Center Scholarship Program
  Church Street United Methodist Church
  Knoxville, TN
  Phone: 865-521-0289
  Awarded: $1,500
• Grand Camp (scholarships)
  Western Michigan Conference,
  Grand Rapids, MI
  Phone: 269-695-3282
  Awarded: $1,500
• Health Ministry Team
  St. Paul United Methodist Church
  Omaha, NE
  Phone: 402-556-2433
  Awarded: $1,000
• Kingdom House Senior Companion Program
  St. Louis, MO
  Phone: 314-421-0400
  Awarded: $1,500
• Moses Lake Senior Homework Team
  Moses Lake United Methodist Church
  Moses Lake, WA
  Phone: 509-765-5332
  Awarded: $1,900
• Beyond Sunday — "New Beginnings for Older Adults"
  Plymouth United Methodist Church
  Plymouth, MA
  Phone: 508-746-1642
  Awarded: $600
• Relational Networks in Circuit 25
  Districts in the Wisconsin Annual Conference
  Ripon, WI
  Phone: 920-209-1803
  Awarded: $1,000
• The Oil of Joy Ministry
  First United Methodist Church
  Fredonia, NY
  Phone: 716-366-2230
  Awarded: $1,000
• PluS Project: Praising and Loving Our Seniors
  Pine United Methodist Church
  San Francisco, CA
  Phone: 415-387-1800
  Awarded: $1,500
• Kor-Sage Senior Ministry,
  Korean United Methodist Church of Santa Clara Valley
  San Jose, CA
  Phone: 408-295-4161
  Awarded: $1,500
• Mt. Moriah United Methodist Church Adult Day Care
  Jacksonville, FL
  Phone: 904-396-6918
  Awarded: $1,000
• Cultural Arts for Ages Together
  Park United Methodist Church
  Bloomfield, NJ
  Phone: 973-429-7745
  Awarded: $600
• Establish and Implement District Older Adult Councils
  Rocky Mountain Conference
  Greenwood Village, CO
  Phone: 303-439-8267
  Awarded: $1,500
• Silver Angels Ministry
  St. Paul United Methodist Church
  Port Arthur, Texas
  Phone: 409-985-3102
  Awarded: $1,000
• Senior-Life Connections
  Wayside United Methodist Church
  Vallejo, CA
  Phone: 707-235-8126
  Awarded: $1,000
• ROAD — Revitalized Older Adults
  Grace Russian United Methodist Church
  Washington, DC
  Phone: 202-491-5056
  Awarded: $1,200
• Breaktime Club
  Blue Ridge Boulevard United Methodist Church
  Kansas City, MO
  Phone: 816-353-1435, ext. 21
  Awarded: $1,000
• Third Thursdays at Chestnut Ridge
  Burlington District
  Burlington, NC
  Phone: 919-851-5106
  Awarded: $2,500
• Congregational Caregivers Project
  Asbury United Methodist Church
  Hood River, OR
  Phone: 541-386-4043
  Awarded: $1,000
• Arlington House Adult Day Services
  Arlington United Methodist Church
  Bridgeton, MO
  Phone: 314-739-0434, ext. 22
  Awarded: $1,000
• Healing Place Ministries: Crime Victims Project
  Arkansas Conference
  Monticello, AR
  Phone: 870-718-3325
  Awarded: $1,000
• Successful Aging
  Lincoln Square Arts Center
  Berry Memorial United Methodist Church
  Chicago, IL
  Phone: 773-275-9735
  Awarded: $2,300
• Sage-ing Circles, San Jose District
  San Jose, CA
  Phone: 408-295-5342
  Awarded: $1,500
• Wellness Walk to Optimal Health for Adults,
  Dixon United Methodist Church
  Dayton, Ohio
  Phone: 937-835-3366
  Awarded: $1500
• Musings: An Outreach to Homebound and Seniors in Nursing Homes
  First United Methodist Church
  Greenfield, MA
  Phone: 413-773-3536
  Awarded: $2000

Return to Fall 2006 Center Sage "Contents" page.

The Rev. Hazel C. Bennett is Chairperson of the United Methodist Committee on Older Adults Ministries. She may be reached bby e-mail at hazel@emeraldis.com.

This article appeared in the fall 2006 issue of Center Sage

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