By Anne Levin

The Center for Modern Aging Princeton (CMAP) has announced the receipt of two grants from the Princeton Area Community Foundation. The grants go toward supporting the organization’s mission to foster a more inclusive, age-friendly community, and strengthen its organizational capacity to deliver impactful programs and services.

A $38,200 Community Impact Grant goes toward the organization’s Community Outreach: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) initiatives, and combatting ageism through intergenerational programming. This funding will enable CMAP to expand its outreach to underserved populations, including racial and ethnic minority seniors, LGBTQ+ seniors, and those facing social and economic barriers.

The grant is designed to expand on CMAP’s programs that bridge gaps between generations, and to enhance public education to challenge stereotypes about aging. The goal is to celebrate contributions of older adults to society.

“This grant will allow us to strengthen our commitment to creating an inclusive and equitable community while addressing ageism through transformative intergenerational connections,” said Drew Dyson, chief executive officer of CMAP.

The second grant is a one-year award of $74,500 from the Bunbury Fund at the Princeton Area Community Foundation. The grant is designed to develop a program evaluation framework, and increase CMAP’s capacity for data-driven decision-making.

“The grant will support the creation of a comprehensive program evaluation system to measure the effectiveness and impact of CMAP’s services, investments in database efficiency to better manage and analyze program data, as well as staff training and resources to enhance CMAP’s ability to assess and refine programs for long-term sustainability,” reads a statement from CMAP.

“With the support of the Bunbury Fund, we can ensure our programs are not only meeting the immediate needs of our community but also driving meaningful, measurable outcomes that make a lasting difference,” said Dyson.

Founded in 1974 as Tenant Services, the initial program supported the residents of Spruce Circle and the wider community. Incorporation as the community nonprofit, the Princeton Senior Resource Center (PSRC), came in 1978. The PSRC moved into a building on Stockton Street that had previously been a gym for Miss Fine’s School and later part of Princeton Day School, in 1985, and named it the Suzanne Patterson Center.

The PSRC was renamed CMAP last year. The nonprofit now operates many of its programs at a spacious new building on Poor Farm Road while some continue at the Suzanne Patterson Center.

While CMAP receives a small percentage of its budget from the municipality of Princeton, the majority of its support comes from individual donors, foundations, grants, and community and corporate sponsors.

Among the program areas are Living Healthy, Support and Guidance, HomeFriends, GrandPals, Engaged Retirement, Crosstown, and Evergreen Forum.