Caregiver Grants
Caregiver Grants offer caregivers and/or Grandparents Raising Grandchildren under the age of 18 an opportunity to refresh and renew away from their caregiving and grand parenting responsibilities.
Caregivers have used these grants to pay someone (a family member, friend or neighbor) to provide them with in-home respite so they can rest, take a class, visit friends or family out of town...giving them peace of mind to know their loved is being cared for while they are away.
Similarly, grandparents have used monies through the grant to help pay for child care, camp fees, or additional household needs...giving them support during difficult times.
Grants can be used in many creative ways to meet the needs of caregivers and grandparents. Please contact the Information and Caregiver Resource Center at FCHCC for more details. Grants are approved based on availability of funds.
Grants have been used in many creative ways to meet the needs of caregivers. Please contact us to see how a caregiver grant might help you.
AARP recently released a 2011 national update on "The Growing Contributions and Costs of Family Caregiving." This study suggests that in 2009 the unpaid work provided by family caregivers was about $450 billion, or 4 times what Medicaid spent on long term supports directly. Specific numbers for Massachusetts suggest that there are 858,000 caregivers at any given time, providing 821 million hours of care per year, and the value of the care they provide is $10.9 billion a year.
The study estimates that family caregivers over the age of 50 today who leave the workforce to care for an elderly relative can expect to lose $115,000 in wages, $138,000 in Social Security benefits and $50,000 in pension benefits.
Send us e-mail Updated June 2011