News & Media

Southern Maine Agency on Aging Awarded $954,457 grant from the Administration for Community Living

OCTOBER 15, 2014 (Scarborough, ME) – The Southern Maine Agency on Aging (SMAA) has received a $954,457 award from the federal Administration for Community Living (ACL) under the Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative: Specialized Supportive Services Project. As one of only 10 organizations nationwide to receive this a grant, the three year award will support the development of the Southern Maine Dementia Capable Service Network, a collaborative effort with a number of local, regional and national partners to expand caregiver services, training, and supports for family caregivers, service providers, and specialized populations of persons with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) as well as those with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are aging into dementia. SMAA will be working with nationally recognized researchers from Johns Hopkins University, Emory University, and Thomas Jefferson University on the training curricula.

“We are pleased to receive this grant not only for how it will allow us to advance our efforts with our dementia programs but that it is a national recognition of our expertise in the area of dementia treatment”, stated Laurence W. Gross, Executive Director, SMAA. Gross continued, “This award will greatly advance SMAA’s goal of creating a Center of Excellence in evidence-based Dementia Care through our new Adult Day Centers and our Family Caregiver Support Program.” 

About the Administration for Community Living (ACL)
ACL brings together the efforts and achievements of the Administration on Aging, the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, and the HHS Office on Disability to serve as the Federal agency responsible for increasing access to community supports, while focusing attention and resources on the unique needs of older Americans and people with disabilities across the lifespan.

About the Southern Maine Agency on Aging
Since 1973, the Southern Maine Agency on Aging has provided residents of York and Cumberland counties with resources and assistance to address the issues and concerns of aging. The Agency serves people ages 60 and older, family caregivers, and people under 60 with a disability. Agency services are devoted to fulfilling its mission of improving the social, emotional, physical and economic well-being of older adults in southern Maine.