A Nearly $1M Grant Will Help Tackle One of the Biggest Challenges Facing Senior Care in Minnesota

Posted on October 3, 2024 by Anna Mowry

The LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation is excited to announce that we will be investing nearly $1 million to support new Americans in the aging services workforce over the next two years, thanks to recent grant funding from the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ Grant, Equity, Access, and Research (GEAR) Division.

Meaningful Careers for New Americans

This money will be used to expand efforts to help foreign-born workers, new Americans, and refugees within our state find meaningful careers and advancement opportunities in the aging services field.

The significant contributions of the foreign-born workers already within our aging services sector are undeniably impactful. When compared with other sectors, Minnesota’s senior care workforce is one of the most diverse in the state. According to a 2023 Lightcast report, nearly 1 in 3 nursing assistants and nearly 14% of Minnesota’s overall healthcare workforce are immigrants.

MN’s Demographic Shift

Minnesota’s aging population is booming—a historic demographic shift that will have far-reaching impacts on the state. By 2030, more than one in five Minnesotans will be over the age of 65. Further, between 2030 and 2050, the number of 85+ year olds will triple.

Yet over 18,000 job openings in key caregiver positions remain vacant in senior care organizations across the state, limiting access to care and straining the healthcare system. To ensure access to quality care and services, we must prioritize innovative solutions and investments to support and grow the aging services workforce.

Building Bridges

Through this transformative investment, the LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation aims to strengthen a supportive bridge between the new Americans seeking meaningful careers and the senior care providers who are eager to employ and welcome them into their communities.  

Over the next two years, resources will be developed for both new Americans and aging services employers. Translated training materials for English-language learners, employee assistance funds, and other supportive services will be provided to new Americans to ensure they can pursue meaningful roles and leadership within the aging services sector. In addition, senior care employers will benefit from new resources and collaborative learning opportunities to build capacity in recruiting and retaining diverse populations and foster inclusive, welcoming communities.

Tremendous Opportunity

“We are grateful for this landmark investment to address one of the most significant challenges facing the aging services field and are excited for this transformative work in enriching our diverse workforce to begin,” said Kari Thurlow, President and CEO of LeadingAge Minnesota. “There is tremendous opportunity to create supportive, welcoming environments for new Americans to be successful in the rewarding career of caring for older adults. Minnesotans throughout the state will benefit from this—not only senior care employers and new Americans— but also the older adults served in senior care communities across the state and their families who can rest easy knowing their loved one is being well-cared for.” 

The LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation has a strong history of growing a committed and high-quality aging services workforce. In 2018, the Foundation launched OnTrack Nursing Assistant Training, an innovative program that now prepares 1 in 5 nursing assistants in the state, helping Minnesotans pursue meaningful education and careers in our sector. In 2022, the Foundation partnered with PHI, a national leader in supporting direct care workers, to engage in in-depth research on DEIB opportunities for the senior care sector.

Collaborative Effort

Earlier this year, a group of Minnesota long-term care leaders and LeadingAge Minnesota staff traveled to Nairobi, Kenya. Under the leadership of Mohamud Noor, a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives and the Kenya State Department for Diaspora Affairs, we celebrated achievements that will allow new pipelines of African nurses to explore opportunities to work abroad—ideally in our great state of Minnesota.

Then in May, LeadingAge Minnesota partnered with Ebenezer Ridges Campus to host a special event to welcome Honorable Principal Secretary of Kenya Diaspora Affairs, Ms. Roseline K. Njogu, along with leaders from Kenya and Minnesota to further deepen these relationships.  

These collaborations and the guidance of expert research will help drive the LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation throughout the work of these new grant-funded initiatives, ultimately to improve the experience for our caregivers and the older adults and communities they serve.