WPHF Launches Boost Your Brain Grant Initiative
The Winter Park Health Foundation (WPHF) is seeking ideas for new programs or program enhancements that help boost the brain health of older adults as part of a new grant initiative.
Dedicated to promoting physical and mental health and well-being of older adults, WPHF is offering grants of up to $25,000 to non-profit organizations proposing brain-boosting programs serving older adults in Eatonville, Maitland or Winter Park.
The Boost Your Brain initiative launched in March when WPHF, through its Older Adults Work Group, hosted a day-long brain health program featuring Dr. Paul Nussbaum and Dr. Linda Karges-Bone. Dr. Nussbaum is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Adjunct Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine, and Dr. Karges-Bone is professor of education at Charleston Southern University and well-known speaker on brain-based education.
Dr. Nussbaum told the more than 70 older adults from Eatonville, Maitland and Winter Park who attended that new research shows the brain can generate new cells, and just how much they grow depends on the environment. To be healthy and continue growing, he said, brains need to be enriched and challenged throughout life.
The WPHF, which recently held a workshop to announce the new funding initiative, is now seeking brief concept papers proposing brain health projects that will be used as a preliminary screening tool. These are due April 16, 2009.
Priority will be given to proposals that include more than two of the five brain health domains—socialization, physical activity, mental stimulation, spirituality and nutrition—and that involve collaborations with other organizations.
After the proposals are reviewed, qualifying organizations will be invited to submit full proposals. Invitations will be sent in early May 2009. Grants are scheduled to be awarded Aug. 1, 2009.
If you have questions, contact Diana Silvey, WPHF Program Director, 407-644-2300 or [email protected] or Judy Odom, WPHF Administrative Assistant, 407-644-2300 or [email protected].
Click here to view information on the Boost Your Brain Program and the Concept Paper Submission Form. There also is a list of organizations that participated in the Funding Initiative Workshops.
