Letter from the President

The Horizon Foundation is committed to innovative health philanthropy, the development of model, evidence- based strategies to improve community health.

We are located between two large and growing metropolitan areas -  Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. This geographic area enjoys a rich history, and its suburban, urbanizing and rural components make it a microcosm of many communities across the country. And, like other geographic areas, we anticipate sharp growth in our older adult population. Specifically, it is anticipated that between the year 2000 and 2020, our population of seniors will grow by 260 percent.

Since 1999, we've been actively engaged in developing the Aging-In-Place Initiative. The program began with a series of coordinated grants to three local non-profits. The Howard County Office on Aging (OOA) served as the hub of this partnership, which was designed to weave the threads of community services - some already in existence and some not - into a fabric of support enabling older adults to remain in their own homes and to avoid institutionalization.

Over several years, the network supporting the project has grown to encompass broad representation from both the public and private sectors of our community. This broad-based support generated the momentum for additional funding from other sources, including the federal and state governments. It enabled our community partners to expand and deepen the initial pilot program. We now strive for even greater transformation in how services are provided to seniors. This includes an emphasis on systemic change.

Over the past few years, the intellectual capital for this continuing effort was developed in collaboration with the Federal Administration on Aging (AOA). The Foundation's partnership with Federal AOA led to Howard County, Maryland, becoming the only locality in the country to be designated as both an Aging and Disabilities Resource Center site and an Evidence Based Chronic Care Management site under these two national programs.

Our strategic objectives now include realigning the service delivery system in order to provide elderly and frail residents with the highest quality of life possible. In the process, we hope to develop effective, replicable techniques to maximize the functional independence of all older adults.

We are blessed in our communities to have an extraordinarily capable Area Agency on Aging (AAA), led by Director Phyllis Madachy. The Howard County Office on Aging has been the central driver and program hub for the ongoing Initiative. The Foundation believes that AAA oversight is critical to future model replication in other geographic locales.

This report describes the Aging-In-Place Initiative, its accomplishments and the evolution of this important multi-year effort.