It’s a fact of life that as we age, we may require more and more medical care and other services. In some situations, it is necessary for the senior citizen to move into a convalescent or care home so that services can be provided around the clock. Depending on the medical situation, there may be no alternative but to seek a long term residential facility designed to care for the elderly.

In many cases, however, it is possible for older adults to remain in their own homes and have caregivers come to them there to provide services. This is known as homecare and if it is medically appropriate, it is usually the preferred choice. Senior citizens often do not wish to leave their homes, which are of course imbued with important memories. More significantly, seniors are most comfortable in their own homes. They know where everything is stored there, which can be a huge advantage since short term memory can become unreliable as we age.

When are Medical Homecare Services the Best Option?

The answer to this will vary by individual, but some of the most important matters to consider are discussed in this article.

Access to medical care: Senior citizens who live a great distance from top notch medical care facilities are at the most risk as they age. A good rule of thumb is that you should be able to get to a full service hospital emergency room in no more than 30 minutes. If you live within that radius of a major hospital, homecare may be appropriate since major medical events that would not be handled by a homecare worker can be quickly referred to a full emergency staff.

Seniors who live more than 30 minutes from a major hospital may wish to opt for a residential care facility which will be better able to meet emergency needs than will a homecare health worker.

Other Kinds of Homecare Services

Sometimes homecare is not designed to provide medical assistance at all. Some senior citizens need other kinds of services, such as someone to bring in groceries or cook meals. Senior citizens who can no longer stand for long periods of time may need this kind of assistance.

Daily personal care is another area where homecare services may be needed. Senior citizens may need assistance with such tasks as bathing and getting dressed in the morning, or undressing to go to bed at night. Help organizing medications and reminders to take it are another way in which homecare workers can help seniors attain a higher quality of life.

Homecare services of these sorts are most often needed in cases where the senior citizen has no close relatives nearby who can take on these kinds of tasks. The elderly man or woman whose spouse has died and who has no children in the area may need professional services of these sorts.

Hiring a Homecare Services Worker

Always hire from reputable firms who do thorough background checks on their employees. Since homecare workers will be entering the home, there is possible danger of robbery or assault if great care is not taken to screen for reputable workers.

Many senior citizens have never had an opportunity to go to college. Born during the baby boom, they came of age at a time when it was common to leave high school and enter adult life directly afterwards, either by joining the work force or getting married, or sometimes both. College was just not an option for many people during this era.

The baby boomers are now in their retirement years, with most of them already in the ranks of our senior citizens. With retirement comes more free time and now, for the first time in their lives, many of these senior citizens find themselves able to devote significant hours to study and attending classes.

Cost should not be an obstacle. There are many ways in which senior citizens can go to college without paying any out of pocket expense, or paying only a minimal amount.

State Programs

Some states actively encourage senior citizens to attend college. In addition to the benefit this provides to the elderly population, state legislators believe that the presence of senior citizens in the classroom will have a positive effect on younger students. They will work and study harder in order not to be perceived as unable to keep up with the senior citizens. Elderly students also bring a higher level of respect and life experience into the classroom setting.

For all these reasons, many states have adopted ordinances that waive tuition for citizens above a certain age. In South Carolina, for example, state law grants free college tuition to anyone who is both a citizen and over the age of fifty-nine. Senior citizens will still have to pay for their books and in some cases will have to fund a small application fee, but courses themselves are provided free of charge at government colleges and universities.

Texas offers a similar program but limits eligibility to those who are sixty five years of age or older. Texas, however, caps the number of free credit hours at six.

Other states provide free tuition at the community college level but not at university. This would allow the senior citizen to obtain a two year but not a four year degree free of charge.

Individual colleges also sometimes offer free tuition to senior citizens, even when state laws do not require it. The only way to find out if your college of choice has a program is to investigate either on the Internet or by calling the admissions office and asking a few questions.

The Lifetime Learning Credit

The federal government is also interested in promoting college for all citizens regardless of age. For this reason the United States tax code contains a provision known as the Lifetime Learning Credit. This is a tax credit of up to $10,000 that can be used every year that it applies. This will not make college free since it can only be applied to 20% of annual expenses, but when it comes to funding college for seniors, every little bit helps.

Thankfully, the situation for senior citizens deep in debt is not as hopeless as it may appear at first. The AARP (American Association for Retired Persons) has been at the forefront of efforts to organize and deliver credit counseling or debt consolidation services specifically designed for senior citizens. These provide important alternatives to bankruptcy because they can allow the elderly American to reorganize debt so that it becomes possible to keep up with the payments and thereby retain one’s good name in the financial world.

Senior Citizens Beware

Although the AARP has done its best for seniors in this country, other businesses and firms, not to mention outright criminals, make it a practice to take advantage of senior citizens. Sometimes such individuals or businesses go even further and actually cheat the elderly. Therefore, it’s vital that seniors interested in credit counseling or debt consolidation seek out firms that have sterling reputations.

The Better Business Bureau is an excellent place to start. Check a firm’s record. If the BBB has no record at all of the firm, stay clear. If there is a record, investigate it carefully. Be especially vigilant about checking for consumer complaints. What is the complaint rate, and what do the complaints allege exactly? Another feature of the BBB website to consult is the bureau’s own rating of the business. Look for one that is rated with an A.

Credit Counseling or Debt Consolidation?

Credit counseling refers to services to assist seniors to understand their debt level and help them learn how to manage it. Reputable firms will offer services such as negotiating with credit card companies to lower interest rates, which will in turn lower minimum monthly payments and make the debt load more manageable. No company can completely erase your debt. Many claim to be able to do this for a fee. Such companies will pocket the fee and make your financial situation worse, not better.

Debt consolidation services are appropriate for senior citizens who need more extensive assistance. These companies will collect all or most of your loans together into one package and arrange a new loan for the whole amount, but at a lower interest rate. Existing creditors will be paid off and afterwards, the borrower will have just a single payment to make each month. This increases the likelihood of the borrower being able to make regular, on time payments.

Senior citizens in industrialized nations including the United States are living longer than ever before. This can pose a serious financial challenge for them because it’s entirely possible that they may outlive their savings. Even worse, the money is likely to run out at the worst possible time: near their final years when they are at their most frail and hence, their least likely to be able to secure and hold a job to provide some additional income.

There may still be a fixed income such as Social Security coming in, but it doesn’t take a degree in financial planning to know that Social Security alone is usually not sufficient to meet daily living expenses. Those seniors who don’t have children or other relatives who can help out may need to look into securing a loan.

What Sort of Loans Can Senior Citizens Get?

If people are no longer working and can’t expect to be doing so in the future, why would they be able qualify for a loan? The answer lies in the fact that many seniors are cash poor but house rich. Simply put, they have long ago finished paying for their home, which means that they actually have a large amount of savings built up – it’s just not in the form of spendable cash.

One option is of course to sell the house and acquire cheaper living quarters, which will make the balance available to meet monthly living expenses. This has the disadvantage of forcing a senior citizen to leave his or her cherished home. For some, that alone is a deal breaker.

Fortunately, it is now possible to both stay in your home and use it as spending capital in the months and years to come. How is this possible? Simply put, through the financial magic of the reverse mortgage. By selling the house to the bank but arranging for the sales price to be paid in monthly installments over a long period of time, the senior citizen can secure a working income to help meet expenses when other forms of savings have been depleted.

A reverse mortgage will not require the senior citizen to leave the home until the reverse mortgage itself has been completed. In most cases, the loan contract is written with reference to the end of life of the loan recipient, meaning that the senior citizen can stay in the home until he or she dies. Only then is the loan finally settled completely. The balance of monies still due, if any, will go into probate and be passed along to heirs using the usual channels. The house, as intended by the original contract, will go to the bank and be sold in order to recoup the money slowly disbursed over the course of the reverse mortgage.

Beware of reverse mortgage contracts that simply specify payments “until death” with no qualifiers, since that could potentially mean that you sell a $400,000 house for $1,000 if the monthly payment is $1000 and you happen to die a mere month after signing the contract. Look for language that will protect your heirs in the event of your early death.

The government at state, federal, and local levels offers a range of financial services for the elderly, and charitable institutions also sometimes have programs designed to assist senior citizens with their financial needs.

Financial Help for Seniors: Work at Home and Web Giveaways

Now before we get into the “guts” of the article, one way of helping yourself out of a financial slump is to get your hands on as much “free stuff” as you can. This includes things like food, goods, and even education. The web offers quite a few means of getting Free Stuff as a Senior Citizen.

Free Stuff for Seniors

You can look at this free stuff for seniors guide which does a pretty good job at showing you how to take advantage of all the various freebies out there.

Here are some online promotions where you fill out a survey and get free stuff or a chance of winning something:

• FREE $100 MacDonalds Gift Card!
• Click Here to get a FREE Gift Card to your Favorite Grocery.
• Get some more groceries.
• Fill out a survey, print coupons and be entered to win a gas card!

Make Money as a Senior Filling Out Surveys

Another way to get financial assistance is to…work. Yes, you heard me right, by working. Now you might say that you can’t find work as a senior citizen because you are too old, there are no jobs in your area, etc. Maybe 20 years ago this would have been a barrier to getting a job, but in this day and age of the internet, it is possible for you to work from the comfort of your home, no matter your age and location. If you are internet-savey enough to read this article and to have found it on the web, then you should can work.

There are a couple options.

You can fill out paid surveys and get paid — PaidSurvey.com is one such website that will show you how.

Filling out surveys is not some get rich quick scheme. You are going to have to put in time filling out surveys, but it can bring in some extra money.

Make Money Writing Articles

Another job for seniors that can actually bring in decent money is to write articles. This involves basically writing content for websites. Believe it or not, there are a lot of website owners who need articles written — if you are fluent in English and can write half decently (and chances are you can), then there is money for you. The going rate is around 3-5 dollars per article. How can you get a job?

There is one good place that you can sign up with and apply for a writing job:

• RealWritingJobs.com — a website that helps set you up with a writing job
• Freelancer.com — the world’s largest freelancing site

Financial Help for Senior Citizens

There are several programs that can provide financial help to the senior citizen. These vary in availability according to age and other factors, and benefit formulations can be quite complex, so it is recommended that interested senior citizens do further research on one of the below programs if they feel it may meet their needs.

Social Security Old Age Pensions

This is the oldest social welfare program in the United States, begun back in the 1930s by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Unlike some programs, you must have paid into it in order to be eligible for benefits. The current requirement, which has been in effect for many years, is that you have 40 quarters of work on your record.

This work must have been in a job that paid into the Social Security system; teaching, for examples, is exempt in many states. 40 quarters equals 10 years of work, but if you worked a little bit each year for 40 years, you will have 40  quarters; the quarters do not have to be contiguous. Since this is a government program, words don’t always mean what they would usually suggest. A “quarter” in this case is not ¼ of a calendar year; it is a sum of money you have earned. Currently, you must earn about $1100 in a year to qualify for one “quarter.” This number scales with inflation. You cannot earn more than 4 “quarters” in any single calendar year.

People can begin receiving Social Security benefits when they are 67 and these will continue until death. They must be paid directly into a bank account; paper checks in this regard have become a thing of the past.

Medicare and Prescription Drug Coverage Assistance

Another program for senior citizen financial help is Medicare, which was recently expanded to cover prescription drugs as well. Medicare uses very complex formulas and consists of both a Part A and a Part B, which cover different items; in addition, seniors now must elect a prescription drug coverage from one of the many companies that work with the government to offer this benefit to seniors.

Though the system is complex, the advantages of it are not. Senior citizens can be assured that during their golden years, health care will still be affordable for them because major medical expenses will be paid for by the government.

Unlike Social Security, the benefit level received under Medicare does not depend on the total amount of money paid in, though you must have enough quarters to qualify. Currently you must have earned 12 quarters over your lifetime in order to be eligible for Medicare when you retire.

Senior Citizen Discounts

Most retail establishments that sell food and drink have some kind of discount program for senior citizens. Usually this takes the form of a “senior menu” which is a short offering of specials that provides a smaller meal more suited to the caloric requirements of the senior citizen.

Movie theatres will also often offer senior discount tickets, generally available to those aged 65 and older.

Grants for Senior Citizens

In most cases, individuals who are having making ends meet must use family based or private resources to solve their problems. While the U.S. government does provide many grants to help people with activities like starting a business or going to college, free money in order to repay debt or meet normal living expenses is almost non-existent.  However, the one class of Americans who can rely on government assistance in this situation is the senior citizen.

Grants are very different from loan based assistance because they do not have to be paid back. They can therefore be regarded as “free” money.

1. Natural Disaster Relief Grant

Most government grants to help seniors are restricted to providing aid in certain specific situations. One such situation is in the case of a natural disaster. If you are aged 62 or above and you can demonstrate that you will most likely be unable to repay a loan, you may be eligible for housing relief in the case of a natural disaster such as a hurricane, earthquake, or regional flood. You can use the funds to repair your property or replace it entirely if the scale of damages from the disaster would warrant that. Requirements for this program include:

• You must exhaust FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Administration) aid first.
• You must prove you own the home in the disaster area.
• You must prove that repairs or replacement of housing is needed.
• Your home must be in an officially designated “disaster area.” The President of the United States is in charge of declaring disaster areas; in some cases state governors can also make such declarations.

2. Housing Improvement Assistance Grant

Another variety of government grant money for seniors can be found in programs to help citizens improve or modernize their homes. The goal of such programs is to help assure that senior citizens live in dwellings free of safety hazards. Requirements for this program include:

• You must be at least 62 years old (younger citizens can obtain a loan instead of a grant).
• Your home must be in a rural location.
• Your income must be within the qualifying range; this program is designed to assist low-income seniors. The qualifying range is usually the median income for the local area.

If you meet some but not all of the qualifications, you may be eligible for a partial grant, with the balance of the assistance being made up of a loan that you must repay.

3. Non-Profit Organizations: Grants for Senior Citizens

Another source of assistance for the elderly American comes from non-profit organizations, which often fund grants directly or do so through local governments or community organizations.  Contact the senior center in your community to find out about non-profits in the local area. They often provide assistance in the following forms:

• rent subsidies
• low-cost apartments for seniors only
• monthly food assistance
• debt relief

In some cases, senior citizens who receive aid through charitable organizations are required to repay the grant “in kind,” which means through service. Helping to serve meals at the senior center or volunteering to visit those who are shut-in are some of the activities that are usually regarded as “in kind”  payments.

However, senior citizens who need assistance and are unable to provide any services due to ill health or infirmity are can usually be exempted from any service requirement.

Housing Assistance for Senior Citizens

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has a great deal of advice for seniors seeking housing assistance. One of the most common methods for seniors to stay in their own homes as they age involves the reverse mortgage.

What is a Reverse Mortgage?

A reverse mortgage is a financial instrument that allows a senior citizen to slowly sell his or her home to a bank. Each month, the bank makes a payment to the senior; this in effect provides an income stream. During this process, which can last a set number of years or can last until death, the senior citizen is allowed to stay in his or her home. Upon death or at the expiration of the reverse mortgage, the house is not inherited by any heirs. Instead, the bank takes it since they have paid for it over time.

This is a type of assistance that most seniors who own a home free and clear can take advantage of. There are no income eligibility requirements since a reverse mortgage is taken out with a private lending bank rather than with a government institution. A reverse mortgage qualifies as housing assistance because it can let a senior citizen stay in his or her own home with it would otherwise not be feasible. Consider, for example, the elderly woman on a fixed income who owns her house free and clear but finds herself unable to pay the property taxes. A reverse mortgage can provide her with a monthly income that makes this obligation possible to fund.

Consult the Better Business Bureau and seek credit counseling if you are considering a reverse mortgage as some unscrupulous companies do exist. They may seek to scam a senior citizen into signing paperwork that gives away the home without any sort of benefit accruing to the senior citizen in question.

Property Tax Relief as Housing Assistance for Seniors

In some states, seniors do not need to worry about property taxes that they cannot pay. Many states have programs that will defer property taxes until after the owner’s death. At that time, the property is sold and all unpaid taxes and interests are funded from the sale; the balance of the monies will be disbursed to heirs in accordance with probate.

In order to qualify for this type of housing assistance, which of course allows seniors to retain and live in their homes when it would otherwise be unaffordable, citizens must meet certain eligibility requirements. These vary by state but they generally involve a minimum age. The programs are intended to assist senior citizens who can be presumed in many cases to live on a fixed income. Younger people who are working cannot usually take advantage of property tax deferment programs.

Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher

Funded by the federal government but distributed through state and local governments, Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers are designed to assist seniors and others meet their rent obligations. For more information on housing assistance programs for senior citizens, an excellent place to start is the HUD Portal online.

Asset Protection as Financial Assistance

Financial assistance means more than simply whether grants or loans are available. Sometimes senior citizens can improve their financial picture simply by doing a better job at protecting what assets they already possess. The U.S. Government offers several resources to help in this regard, most of them available through the Consumer Protection Agency.

Programs available from the Consumer Protection Agency will help Americans in every age bracket, but the ones most targeted toward the needs of seniors are:

• Abuse of the Elderly
• Advocates for Residents of Nursing Homes, by State
• Commission on Law and Aging
• Elder Rights Protection
• Financial Crimes Against the Elderly
• H.E.L.P. – Helping People Meet Aging-Related Legal and Care Challenges
• How To File a Nursing Home Complaint
• Long Term Care Ombudsman Program (Administration on Aging)
• Medicare Fraud: Detection and Prevention
• Social Security – Protect Your Social Security Number
• Social Security – Report Fraud

Tax Credit Help for the Elderly or Disabled

Some seniors can receive financial assistance in the form of a tax credit from the federal government. To qualify for the credit for the elderly, you must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien aged 65 or older and your income must meet certain guidelines. Single senior citizens earning less than $17,500 per year or married couples earning less than $20,000 per year will generally meet these guidelines, though exact eligibility requirements can be complex. For more information, see U.S. Government publication 524, which fully explains all the rules and regulations related to the tax credit for the elderly.

If you are not yet 65 but you are disabled, you may still qualify for the same credit. See the publication linked above for full information on that tax credit, also. Both of these tax credits provide financial assistance by lowering the total amount of taxes that an individual or married couple must pay each year. In some cases, the tax credit will do more than lower tax liability; it will result in a net profit such that you will pay no taxes at all and the federal government will send you “free” money back.

Other Tax Information for Senior Citizens

There are other federal tax programs and strategies that can assist senior citizens financially. These are fully explained in the following government publications:

• Older Americans Tax Guide – Publication 554
• Pension and Annuity Income – Publication 575

For senior citizens who feel that navigating official government publications is too much of a challenging, the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) offers free tax advice, including free preparation of forms when needed. This non-profit organization is dedicated to meeting the needs of seniors and helping them utilize government and other resources to the maximum. They can be reached through their online tax assistance web page. Those who take advantage of the AARP’s “tax aide” program can be sure that they are getting access to all financial assistance programs for which they qualify.

Financial Assistance to Help Seniors Pay their Medical Bills

The following government programs provide financial assistance targeted at helping senior citizens meet their expenses for medical care:

• Medicaid
• Medicare Savings Programs
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Benefits
• Extra Help

Full information on all of these is available in a government guidebook available online, but the most important thing to know is that they generally include income eligibility requirements. As such, they are designed to assist low income senior citizens, the group most in need of this kind of support.

Homecare and Transportation Help for Seniors

Finding Your Local Agency for Financial Assistance with Meals and Transportation

The federal government’s Administration on Aging has a helpful web site which simplifies the process of finding the local agency responsible for assisting senior citizens with financial and other needs. Simply point your internet browser to the Elder Care Locater Web Page and type in your zip code. You will instantly be supplied a list of the local agency or agencies responsible for assisting senior citizens in that local area.

A search of “90210,” which is the zip code for Beverly Hills, California, for example, returned results for several local and state agencies responsible for financial assistance, meals and nutrition for seniors, and elder care abuse. The main agency was the Los Angeles County Community and Senior Services Area Agency on Aging; the Elder Care Locater provided the phone number, address, email and web site so that contacting the agency is possible in several different ways.

Help with Senior Care

If you are looking for someone qualified to assist with elderly care, there are a number of  website which will line you up with an elderly care provider at a price you can afford.

Financial Assistance for Recreation: The Fun Stuff

When it comes to financial assistance for seniors, it’s not all about taxes and medical care. Help is also available to assist seniors to attain a high quality of life, including recreation and vacations. This kind of help usually comes in the form of discounts rather than grants or loans offering direct funding.

The national railroad of the United States, Amtrack, has a senior citizens discount program. Those who are 62 years of age or older qualify for it and will receive 15% off the lowest available fare, simply for the asking. Some limitations do apply; for example, the senior discount is not available on the auto train. For more information, click the link at the bottom of this article.

Many airlines may also offer senior discounts. The best advice is simply to ask – the worst case scenario will be that you get told no, but in many cases you may find that you save money.

In addition, the national park system offers a senior discount program that enables senior citizens to purchase an annual and sometimes a lifetime pass that will get them into all national parks free of charge. For those that like the outdoors, this can represent a significant savings over time.

Most states operate a state park system that also offers a senior discount pass.

More information on travel discounts is available at the following web sites:

• Amtrak Senior Citizens Discount
• Driving and Older Adults
• Parks and Recreation Pass for Seniors
• Traveling Abroad – Tips for Seniors

The good news is that there are some assistance programs available for seniors. The next post I will discuss some of the specific senior assistance programs that are currently available in the United States and Canada.

Assistance can be classified into a few different categories. You can get some sort of monetary assistance. This can take the form of some sort of welfare program, loan, grant, or even a scholarship. Monetary assistance can be either a gift (grant) which will not require repayment or some sort of loan which does require payment in time.

There are also other assistance programs that aim to help people help themselves. These programs are often the best in the long run because they aim to give people the skills and ability to fix their own problems in the long run. Such assistance might be available in the form of schooling to teach job-ready skills or even direct job assistance programs that help people find jobs.

If you want to get help as a senior, you are going to have to look at all the assistance programs available and decide which is best for your needs.

The economy has forced many seniors to come out of retirement and start working again. Indeed, this may be the right choice for you. While the thought of another 10 years of work might scare more than a few seniors, such a thing should be considered if you are a fairly young senior. If you are in your 60’s, it is possible that you can still get a job. There are job training programs for seniors that can assistance seniors to get jobs. There are also agencies that can directly find temporary work for people looking for that work.

If you are too old to work (in your late 70, 80’s or you have health problems) then working another few years to restore your 401k might not be possible. You might want to look to see what sort of welfare or senior financial assistance programs you can look at.

You also want to look at controlling your budget. If you tinker with the way you live, you might be able to spend less money and thereby avoid having to work.

Financial Help for Seniors Through Grant Programs

It’s true that the federal government offers a variety of funds to those who will implement an activity that’s approved of by the federal law. There are more than 25 federal agencies that provide upwards of 100 grants each year in a variety of different areas. Some of these grants are designed just to help the senior citizen.

There are also many large corporations, charities, and private foundations that give out cash prizes to help support well-regarded activities. From the more than 70k foundations in the USA, there have been given out a total of 40 billion dollars in grant funding in just 2007 alone.

A grant can be given out for specific purposes or the grant can be what’s called an unrestricted grant – the funds can be used for practically any purpose by the organization on the receiving end.

Grants for Senior Citizens

For the senior, here are a number of different types of grants that you can apply for. There are grants to help a senior meet nutrition, housing, and even education needs. There are also private foundations that do provide specialized grants to non-profit organizations that work with seniors, helping to support and promote health, affordable housing, education, and nutrition among seniors.

There are, unfortunately, only a few grants that are given directly to an individual who needs money. No matter what sort of commercial that advertizes senior citizen grants or what sort of online website you find that promotes senior citizen grants, there is not some massive, mysterious bank that’s brimming with free money which every senior citizen needing food, medical, or monetary help can tap. Most individuals who need assistance will need to work with specific government grant-funded agencies and organizations to get access to this free help.

Federal Grants

Some of the more popular (and legit) federal grants include:

• Capital Assistance Program for Elderly Persons and Persons with Disabilities – this provides the money for seniors to meet their transportation needs where public transportation is not readily available.
• The Foster grandparent Program – this grant is designed to help promote volunteer service with over 60 persons.
• Mortgage Insurance Rental housing for the elderly – helps to provide housing for seniors. This is funded by mortgage insurers.
• Nutritional Services Incentive Program – gives state agencies access to a number of programs to help deliver meals to aging ethnic groups (Native American primarily)

Foundations

Foundations are small organizations that do provide assistance to the needy, usually educational, health, and housing. You can find a list of foundations here. http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/statistics/pdf/08_fund_pop/2000/50_found_pop/pop_b1_f.pdf

Virtually anyone can apply for a specific grant for senior citizens. Some people who do qualify for this type of grant can include:

• Non Profit Organizations
• A government agency
• Private or Public Schools
• Small Business
• Individuals

The application process is first started by the written grant proposal. This proposal must be towards the organization that is offering the senior citizen grant. The basic purpose of the proposal is to present a convincing case for why you actually need the grant. You are going to need to describe in every detail how you are going to use the fund. It’s important for you to first:

1. Do Research – You should understand the purpose of the grant, what the grant is ultimately designed to accomplish, and any sort of procedures you must follow as well of a list of the required forms, and supplementary documents you might be required to send in. You also want to look at the deadline too.
2. Justify Your Reasons for the Grants – Despite what you read online from grant websites, grantors are not just tossing out money for free. You are going to have to prove that there is going to be a tangible benefit to the community or the target audience that the grant aims to help, either yourself or the people your organization is trying to help
3. Demonstrate Results that can be proved – you are going to need to provide some concrete assessment of how the grant is actually helping, usually after a agreed upon period of time.
4. Learn to Write a Proper Grant Proposal—You should do your research for how to do this. There are plenty of online websites that give grant-writing tips. There are also plenty of books you can find in your library that will help you with this.

Tips on Writing a Senior Citizen Grant Proposal

Make sure you keep in steady contact with the organizations that give out the grants

Follow the application instructions very carefully so you complete the application correctly

1. Aim for an easy-to-read, simply grant proposal
2. Keep each paragraph short and specific to your goals
3. Be sure to include the overall goals of your grant objective
4. The beginning of your proposal should include a basic summer of your needs and your overall plan
5. Include a detailed budget plain in your proposal
6. Include information about how you will decide whether the grant program was a success or not
7. Be sure to talk about what you will do after the grant funds are depleted

And Finally…Watch out for Grant SCAMS

It’s important that you watch out for grant scams. There are plenty of websites that will offer to give you a grant, but charge you 20 to 100 dollars for the application fees and to help with the proposal. If these companies don’t just take your money outright and return nothing, you may only end up with a simple list of grant programs and addresses.