A. Age-Friendly Minnesota (AFMN) Grant Program The Age-Friendly Minnesota (AFMN) Grant Program was funded by the Minnesota Legislature in recognition of Minnesota’s demographic shifts to an older population, and the need for new approaches to, and greater investment in, systems- and community-level work related to aging. The Funding Areas encompass priorities noted by the Minnesota Legislature in the initial age-friendly statute, Laws of Minnesota 2023, chapter 61, article 2, section 5, subdivisions 1 and 2 (https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2023/0/61/). The Council has made Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) the foundation of Age-Friendly Minnesota and wants to ensure that underserved groups will benefit from the AFMN Grants Program. These groups include, but are not limited to, older adults who: are low-income identify as indigenous American Indian identify as Black, African American, Asian, Latinx identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) are new immigrants and/or refugees have limited English proficiency live in rural areas are veterans have disabilities. B. AFMN Grant Program: Community Grants Individuals, organizations, and communities (defined broadly as neighborhoods, towns, cities, counties, Tribes, affinity groups, faith communities, and others) can apply for AFMN Community Grants to develop plans, policies, programs, and environments that promote the dignity, autonomy, and inclusion of older Minnesotans; and to further the objectives of Minnesota’s Multisector Blueprint for Aging This includes, but is not limited to, efforts to adopt and implement frameworks such as Age-Friendly Communities, Health Systems, Universities, or Public Health. (Note: AFMN Community Grants will not fund direct services to older adults. See Eligibility Criteria in Section 1B for more detail.) Community Grant Applicants may apply for grants between five thousand dollars ($5,000) and eighty thousand dollars ($80,000) for an anticipated 13-month grant cycle (February 12, 2025-March 31, 2026).
