Baker Senior Center Naples awarded CCF grant

Baker Senior Center Naples, a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive programs and social services for local seniors and their families, announced that it has been awarded a $242,500 grant from the Collier Community Foundation to expand essential services to more lower-income seniors in the community.

The funds will be used to hire a new case manager, preferably an individual who has earned the master of social work degree, who will support about 50 additional older adults each year, of which 70 to 80 percent will be low to moderate income seniors. The case manager also will field an additional 1,500 case management calls annually.

“We are thankful to the Collier Community Foundation for their continued support of older adults in our community,” said Dr. Jaclynn Faffer, President/CEO of Baker Senior Center Naples. “The addition of another Case Manager will enable seniors to experience an increase in social engagement and enhanced functional stability and independence.”

The case management program is an existing program of Baker Senior Center Naples. It is anticipated that this expansion will improve seniors’ quality of life, reduce risk of homelessness, enhance mental well-being, enhance functional stability and independence, increase access to healthcare, and result in overall better management of chronic diseases.

The Collier Community Foundation is a tax-exempt, public, charitable foundation, established in 1985 to increase private philanthropy in Collier County. It awards grants through a competitive application and review process. Selected organizations receive grant dollars from the “Collier Forever Fund,” which is made up of donors who believe in the Foundation’s ability to identify and support the community’s most current needs.

Baker Senior Center Naples is the only human services agency of its kind, providing “one-stop shop” services addressing the emotional and social needs of seniors in Collier and southern Lee counties. Since opening its doors in 2014, the organization has seen a surge in the depth and scope of need for comprehensive senior services in this region.