Senior Citizens Council of the CSRA & Greater Augusta, Georgia, Inc

Stuck in a rut and unable to find new grant opportunities, Executive Director Kathleen Ernce reached out for help. Her organization had a waiting list of over 30 senior adults in need with no additional funding to increase their program capacity. Meanwhile, Kathleen spent her time training their senior adult companions, coordinating with school systems for their senior adult tutors, networking with community partners, and writing their current grants. Overwhelmed and underfunded, Kathleen felt like her organization and its programs were insufficient to meet the needs she saw.

Gateway stepped in, researched for new grant opportunities, and took on the task of writing and submitting grants for the Senior Citizens Council. This freed up Kathleen to focus her efforts on making sure her senior adults had the best quality care through an effectively-run program.   

When asked about her experience working with Gateway, here’s what Kathleen had to say: 

The staff of Gateway are considerate of the agency’s time and other duties, ask for items that are needed to be able to present the most accurate picture of the agency to the funding source, and are very congenial, professional, competent individuals who give 100% of themselves to benefit the agency with whom they are working. 

Through our research and advocacy with potential grantmakers, Gateway identified and successfully secured six new grants for the Senior Citizens Council over the course of one year. This funding allowed the organization to grow in ways it had not before, including the creation of a senior adult health and wellness program at little to no cost to participants, the only one of its kind in our area!