MNRAAA Receives Otto Bremer Trust Grant
(March 4, 2021) – Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging, Inc. (MNRAAA) received a $25,000 grant from the Otto Bremer Trust, allowing an expansion of health care classes.
MNRAAA connects rural service providers to health education programs proven to help older adults prevent falls and self-manage chronic health conditions. However, service providers often have a considerable upfront expense in training and supplies before offering their first health education program.
The Otto Bremer Trust grant will remove this financial barrier by funding training expenses and seed money for service providers new to offering evidence-based health education programs or providing new programming. As a result of this project, there will be increased opportunities for rural older adults to participate in healthy aging classes and experience better health outcomes.
Healthy aging classes that organizations can hold for older adults include but are not limited to: A Matter of Balance, Aging Mastery Program, Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program, Diabetes Prevention Program, Living Well with Chronic Conditions, Living Well with Chronic Pain, Living Well with Diabetes, Programa de Manejo Personal de la Diabetes, Stay Active and Independent for Life, Stepping On, Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance, Tomando Control de su Salud, and Walk With Ease.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to allow new organizations to try out these classes for older adults,” stated Jason W. Swanson, Executive Director of MNRAAA. MNRAAA will be targeting Jackson, Le Sueur, Martin, Meeker, Sibley, Waseca and Watonwan counties with these dollars. For more information about healthy aging classes, visit www.mnraaa.org or contact Krista Eichhorst at 507-387-1256 extension 101.
About the Otto Bremer Trust
The Otto Bremer Trust (OBT) is a bank holding company and a private charitable trust based in Saint Paul, Minn., that works at the intersection of finance and philanthropy. Created in 1944 by Otto Bremer, it is today one of the nation’s largest philanthropic organizations and is committed to supporting a better quality of life for residents of Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and Wisconsin. OBT is the majority owner of Bremer Financial Corporation, a regional financial services company and manages a diversified investment portfolio. Since its funding, OBT has invested more than $841 million in people, places, and opportunities in the Upper Midwest.
