Neighbors Near and Far Senior Connection Program

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Executive Summary

Neighbors Near and Far Senior Connection Program is a nonprofit in Oregon that connects isolated older adults with friendly visitors, daily reassurance calls, large-print tablets and monthly community meals with rides. Trained and screened volunteers visit or call every week, and coordinators help seniors reach meals, benefits, repairs and health services.

Many older adults spend most of their days alone, and loneliness and isolation are linked to worse health and faster decline. A friendly voice, a weekly visit and a ride to an event can lift their days and help us notice when something is wrong.

With this grant we will serve about 100 seniors in Year 1 in 2 neighborhoods. We are not a medical or home care service, our volunteers call 911 in any emergency and we do not promise any health result. We promise screened volunteers, reliable contact and respect for every older adult.

Our Year 1 budget is about $163,000, growing to about $218,000 by Year 5 as we add sites, coaches and participants. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 3 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director, a Program Coordinator and a part-time volunteer coordinator) and 5 by Year 5.

We are asking the Cascadia Aging Together Foundation for $50,000 for the Program Coordinator and tablets and phone service for seniors. Our other income and startup support cover the rest. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this proposal, and we do not promise any result beyond what we describe.

Company Description

Neighbors Near and Far Senior Connection Program is a nonprofit organization in Oregon. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. No older adult should go days without a friendly voice, a visit or a reason to leave the house.

What we do.
- Match each isolated older adult with a trained friendly visitor who visits or calls every week.
- Run a daily phone reassurance line staffed by volunteers.
- Lend tablets with large-print screens and teach seniors to video call family.
- Host monthly community meals and social events with rides provided.
- Connect seniors with meals, benefits, repairs and health services when they ask.
- Train and support volunteers and thank them often.

Our values. Respect for every participant, honesty with families and partners, safety first and a place for everyone who wants to belong.

What we do not do. We are not a medical, home care or counseling service. Volunteers do not give medical advice, handle money or help with bathing or lifting, and they call 911 in any emergency. We do not promise any health result. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of neighbors, a nurse and a retired teacher began calling older neighbors each morning during a snowstorm to check they were warm and had food. People did not want the calls to stop. We kept simple records of who we called and what they needed. This proposal asks for support to move from morning phone calls to a steady program with paid, trained staff and the materials to match.

Problem & Opportunity

Many older adults spend most of their days alone, and loneliness and isolation are linked to worse health and earlier decline.

Cost. Companionship services cost money, and many seniors on fixed incomes cannot pay for them.

Access. Seniors who no longer drive or have lost friends and family may not know where to turn, and may not own or know how to use technology.

Safety and trust. Families and funders want to know that visitors are screened and trained and that someone will notice when something is wrong.

Missed benefits. Isolated seniors are more likely to fall, miss medicines and skip meals without anyone knowing.

What we hear.
- A widow says her phone has not rung in a week.
- A son says he lives far away and worries every day.
- A nurse says the lonely patients are the sickest.
- A volunteer says the hour she spends each week is the best of her week.

We do not claim that a program can solve every challenge. We believe that a friendly voice, a weekly visit and a ride to an event can lift an older adult's days.

Products & Services

Neighbors Near and Far Senior Connection Program gives older adults who are isolated and live alone a safe, welcoming place to stay connected and engaged.

How the program works.
1. Referral. Seniors, families, clinics and agencies refer older adults, and neighbors may refer themselves.
2. Match. A coordinator visits, learns the senior's interests and matches a volunteer visitor.
3. Weekly contact. The volunteer visits or calls every week and may help with a walk or a game.
4. Reassurance calls. Volunteers call each morning for seniors who want a daily check-in.
5. Tablets. We lend a large-print tablet and teach video calling to family and friends.
6. Events. Monthly meals and events bring seniors together, with rides provided.
7. Connections. The coordinator connects seniors with meals, benefits, repairs and health services.

What a typical session looks like. Participants arrive and check in with a staff member, settle in together, work on the day's activity in small groups and finish with a short talk about what went well. Staff praise effort, correct mistakes kindly and make sure no one is left out.

Staff. Our volunteers are screened and trained, and our coordinators pass a background check, complete our training and are paid for their time.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. Services are free. We welcome every older adult, and we offer materials in large print and in Spanish.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Older adults ages 60 and over who live alone and are isolated, in our service area. Eligibility is based on age, where a person lives and isolation, and no one is turned away for lack of income or ability.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our morning phone calls we reached more seniors than we could visit and kept a waiting list. The area agency on aging and clinics told us that many more isolated seniors need a friendly contact than we can serve. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 100 participants at 2 neighborhoods. By Year 5, with more staff and sites, we plan to serve about 300.

Where participants come from.
- Clinics, hospitals and home health agencies.
- The area agency on aging and meal programs.
- Churches and senior centers.
- Families and neighbors who call.

Who else benefits. Families gain peace of mind. Clinics gain patients who keep appointments. Neighborhoods gain volunteers who know their older neighbors.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a senior who got a phone call. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Competitive Landscape

What young people can find today, and how we are different.

1. Senior centers. Offer meals and activities for those who can come. We reach those who cannot.

2. Meal delivery. Brings food and a brief visit. We add weekly friendship.

3. Home health and home care. Provide skilled and personal care and are not designed for companionship. We work with them.

4. Faith groups. Caring and sometimes limited to members. We offer an open program.

5. Phone and video apps. Useful and hard for many seniors to set up. We teach and support.

What makes us different.
- Free to every senior.
- Screened and trained volunteer visitors.
- Daily reassurance calls.
- Large-print tablets and video call lessons.
- Rides to monthly events.

Why this gap matters. Existing programs do good work, and most serve people who can already pay or who live close to them. The people we serve are the ones left over: they live in the wrong neighborhood, have the wrong schedule or have no one to ask. We are built to reach them.

We have spoken with the area agency on aging, clinics, meal programs and other senior programs to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How young people and partners will find us.

Reaching young people.
- Clinics and hospitals. We will give staff a short referral form and a named contact.
- The area agency on aging and meal programs. We will share information with staff and drivers who see seniors every week.
- Churches and senior centers. We will leave large-print flyers and give short talks.
- Families and neighbors. We will talk with families who call and encourage neighbors to refer someone.
- Word of mouth. Seniors tell friends.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching staff and sponsors.
- Invite retirees, students, church members and employee groups through congregations, colleges and workplaces.
- Offer an orientation, a background check and training in safety, privacy and respectful practice.
- Give partners a short report each quarter with counts of participants and what they said.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up form and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for those with the greatest need and for people new to the program. We keep a waiting list when the program is full.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, visits and calls completed, seniors connected to services and how many participants return for a second season.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the staff, buy equipment and materials, finalize the waiver, consent form and privacy policy with our attorney and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Recruit and train the first volunteers and begin matching.
- Months 4 to 10: Match visitors, run the daily call line and hold monthly events with rides.
- Months 11 and 12: Survey seniors, families and volunteers, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. Events are held in community rooms and church halls, provided at no cost. The coordinators work from a small donated office.

Safety and privacy.
- Volunteers do not give medical care, handle money or help with bathing or lifting, and they call 911 for any emergency.
- First visits are made with a coordinator, and volunteers follow a check-in plan.
- Every staff member and volunteer passes a background check and completes safety training.
- Staff work in pairs or in view of others whenever participants are minors or in a vulnerable situation.
- We keep an emergency plan at every site, and participants complete an emergency contact form.
- We keep records private, share them only with a participant's permission or as the law requires and follow a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $7,000 of equipment once at the start: large-print tablets for lending (15) ($4,500), laptops and phones for coordinators ($1,500), event supplies and storage ($1,000). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. The Program Coordinator, paid $42,000 a year, manages matches and events. A part-time volunteer coordinator, paid $24,000, recruits and trains volunteers. We add a coordinator in Year 4.

Management & Organization

Helen Larsen, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work as a nurse who saw how often loneliness was the real diagnosis. I will complete the training we require of our volunteers so I understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Staff. The Program Coordinator manages matches and events, and a part-time volunteer coordinator recruits and trains volunteers. Each passes a background check. These positions are part of our grant request.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a nurse, a pastor, a social worker, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney, an adult child of a senior and a retired teacher. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our safety plan. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. An area agency on aging staff member, a clinic director and a senior center manager give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $50,000 a year; program Coordinator, paid $42,000 a year; volunteer Coordinator (part-time), paid $24,000 a year.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Serve about 100 participants at 2 neighborhoods.
- Run at least two full seasons and a summer session.
- Have at least 85 percent of participants attend most sessions.
- Have at least 80 percent of participants return for a second season.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 90 percent of families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Participants enrolled, sessions and games attended, from our records.
- Skills learned and goals met, from the coach's checklist.
- Equipment issued and returned, from our log.
- Participant and family feedback, from a short, confidential form.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 150 participants at 2 neighborhoods.
- Year 3: About 200 participants at 3 neighborhoods.
- Year 4: About 250 participants at 3 neighborhoods.
- Year 5: About 300 participants at 4 neighborhoods.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the director and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our sites or our schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 43 percent of our budget, down from about 63 percent in Year 1, as partners and donors give more. We will keep building those relationships every year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $50,000 from the Cascadia Aging Together Foundation for the Program Coordinator and tablets and phone service for seniors, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Program Coordinator salary, $42,000.
- Supplies: Large-print tablets and phone service for seniors, $8,000 (other funds add $2,000).

Other money in the program. This request is about 49% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $163,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $6,600 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $103,000; area Agency on Aging Funding $30,000; health Plan and Business Partners $20,000; individual Donors $10,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $50,000; program Coordinator $42,000; volunteer Coordinator (part-time) $24,000; volunteer Training and Screening about $6,000; tablets and Phone Service for Seniors about $10,000; transportation to Events about $6,000; community Meals and Events about $6,000; staff Training about $3,000; administration and Insurance about $8,000; about $3,000 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $15,500 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $4,500 for large-print tablets for lending (15); $1,500 for laptops and phones for coordinators; $1,000 for event supplies and storage; $2,500 for attorney review of the consent form, volunteer policy and privacy policy; $1,500 for large-print flyers and a simple website; $2,000 for background checks and volunteer training for the first group; $2,500 for first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($15,500), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $38,800, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $54,500. We start with $6,000 from our founding board and $51,000 in startup support from a community foundation and a health plan, $57,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $163,000 in Year 1 to about $218,000 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $103,000, $89,500, $76,000, $107,000 and $94,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: area Agency on Aging Funding from $30,000 to $54,000; health Plan and Business Partners from $20,000 to $44,000; individual Donors from $10,000 to $26,000. Our surplus is planned at about $6,600 in Year 1, about $7,100 in Year 2, about $7,500 in Year 3, about $10,200 in Year 4 and about $10,800 in Year 5. We grow from 2 neighborhoods to 4 by Year 5, adding a part-time coach for each new site.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $51,500, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $6,520 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per senior. In Year 1, our total costs are about $1,564 per senior served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more senior served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $691 per senior.

After the grant. Area agency on aging funding, corporate sponsors and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Participants and families share their stories, and businesses can sponsor a team or a season by name. We will look for partnerships with schools and the city that want a safe, free senior connection option for every child.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. Certified coaches, proper equipment, groups matched by age and skill, a written emergency plan and insurance.
- A site is no longer available. We keep agreements with more than one site and a plan for bad weather.
- A coach leaves. We keep a list of trained backup coaches and share lesson plans.
- Low attendance. We adjust sites, times and rides based on family feedback.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train every staff member and volunteer.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow partner and donor support each year.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one neighborhood, a handful of seniors and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from partner schools, agencies and sites.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan and background check policy.
- Your program outline and schedule.
- Quotes for equipment and materials.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $103,000 in Year 1, growing to $94,000 in Year 5.
- Area Agency on Aging Funding: $30,000 in Year 1, growing to $54,000 in Year 5.
- Health Plan and Business Partners: $20,000 in Year 1, growing to $44,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donors: $10,000 in Year 1, growing to $26,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $50,000; program Coordinator $42,000; volunteer Coordinator (part-time) $24,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: volunteer Training and Screening $6,000; tablets and Phone Service for Seniors $10,000; transportation to Events $6,000; community Meals and Events $6,000; staff Training $3,000; administration and Insurance $8,000. These grow between 4% and 5% a year.
- Equipment: $7,000 at the start, then $1,500 to $2,500 a year.
- Startup costs: $15,500, paid once from $57,000 in startup money.
- Participants served: about 100 in Year 1, growing to about 300 in Year 5. Sites: 2 in Year 1, growing to 4 by Year 5. Visits and calls happen year-round, with monthly community meals.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs