Ever wonder what our Program Developers do at the Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging (MNRAAA)?
Through the Eldercare Development Partnership (EDP) Grant, they’re the connectors, collaborators, and idea-makers who help bring services and support to older adults across our 27-county region.
Here is what the program developers are up to:
Building Collaboration & Partnerships: Our Program Developers work closely with community organizations, local leaders, and service providers to create strong partnerships that make a lasting impact for older adults. Together, we’re stronger!
Examples:
- EDP staff partnered with an interested volunteer in the New Ulm area over the last few years by providing connections, resources and technical assistance to provide caregiver resources in an area where none existed. Today there are several caregiver support groups, education events, and a new memory loss network. All of these local resources provide much-needed education, support, and resources to caregivers, care recipients, and local partners in the community. More information
- EDP staff have been a partner with Age Friendly MN and worked to promote, host, and engage the community in understanding their work through the State’s Multisector Blueprint on Aging plan since 2023. As they started hosting annual regional exchange events across the state, EDP staff have been tasked with bringing together community partners, along with organizing, planning, marketing, and facilitating the event. Fall 2025, MNRAAA along with AFMN hosted an event in Willmar, MN which brought 37 individuals from the community together to learn and generate discussion around Age Friendly practice in the area. 2026 Regional Exchanges / mn.gov/dhs | Age Friendly Minnesota
- EDP staff identified a rural healthcare workforce need and led the development of the Introduction to Medical Careers and Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) programs at Tracy High School. MNRAAA staff brought together SWWC, LYFT, Accura Health Care, Prairie View Senior Living, Good Samaritan of Westbrook, and Sanford Foundation and assisted in developing a program so the school district could offer the classes without paying a college for instruction. This collaboration gives students hands-on exposure to careers in healthcare, social work, and public health while creating a pathway to local employment at Prairie View Senior Living and other area nursing homes and assisted living communities. By encouraging students to pursue credentials or degrees and return to work in rural communities, the initiative helps address persistent staffing shortages and reduce providers’ reliance on costly traveling staff.
Spotting Community Needs: By listening to older adults and reviewing local data, they identify what’s working — and what’s missing — in the network of aging services across our region.
Examples:
- EDP staff recruit Cultural Caregiver Consultants who can help ensure caregiver programs and resources are responsive to the cultures, languages, and lived experiences of the diverse communities across southwest Minnesota. MNRAAA staff identify potential consultants, build relationships with trusted community partners, and provide the coordination and technical assistance needed to connect consultants with organizations serving older adults and family caregivers. These partnerships help address barriers such as language differences, limited awareness of available services, and a lack of culturally relevant caregiver education and support. Caregiver Consultant Page
- EDP staff work with area providers for older adults to support programming and look for ways to expand reach to those with certain impairments, such as those with low vision. MNRAAA partnered with VINE Faith in Action in Mankato, MN to take their evidence-based program, Tai Ji Quan, and do a pilot to adapt it to those with low vision to no vision. MNRAAA worked with the creator of the program and a contracted trainer to re-develop it, teach it to the staff, and pilot a class to see if it was viable. VINE now offers their Tai Ji Quan classes, with an emphasis on the fact that it is inclusive and adaptable for those with low vision. VINE Faith in Action
Turning Ideas into Action: From caregiver support and nutrition programs to wellness initiatives, they help design, fund, and guide programs that make a real difference in people’s lives.
Examples:
- MNRAAA, in partnership with Southwest Initiative Foundation (SWIF), provided a $500 grant to 18 different organizations within the shared coverage area of MNRAAA and SWIF. Each organization used the funds toward an event or project whose results were engagement, socialization, education, and/or access to resources for their community members. An estimated 800 older adults and other community members participated in the events. With social isolation being a heightened health risk, especially in rural communities, efforts like these can go a long way to helping older adults thrive. More information
- Since 2017 EDP staff, with funding from the Southwest Initiative Foundation, have worked with 31 communities through the Age-Friendly Community Grant program. What began as an opportunity to help small rural communities identify their strengths and needs has grown into years of meaningful community-driven change. MNRAAA EDP staff work alongside local leaders and residents to gather community input, identify priorities, connect communities with resources, and turn ideas into action. Projects have focused on areas such as accessibility, safety, social connection, outdoor spaces, and creating welcoming places for people of all ages. The most recent communities continued that tradition by using resident feedback to guide improvements that support aging well in place. These communities often continue the momentum on Age-Friendly work for years to come.
Sharing Knowledge & Resources: They support community partners by offering technical assistance, funding guidance, and resources to help programs grow and succeed. They, alongside their Minnesota Aging Pathways coworkers, help to spread the word of resources for older adults.
Examples:
- EDP staff partnered with the Montevideo Medical Academy since its very early planning stages in 2023. The Program Developer helped identify grant opportunities for classroom equipment, connected the school with local health service providers and potential employers, and helped create opportunities for students to learn about careers serving older adults. MNRAAA continues to support the Academy by serving on its Advisory Committee and leading Age Sensitivity Training with help from the Montevideo Area Memory Loss Network. What started as an idea for bringing CNA training into the high school has grown into a successful program where students can earn college credits, industry certifications, and hands-on healthcare experience—all while helping build the future rural healthcare workforce.
- EDP staff host trainings in-person and virtually on topics including: Grant-Writing, Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers, Networking, Age-Sensitivity, Dementia education, Caregiving, education on regional resources, and more. These free trainings are highly valuable in providing much-needed education and support to the small nonprofit organization that supports older adults in MNRAAA’s rural communities.
