Washington, DC—AARP Foundation, a grantee of the Social Innovation Fund (SIF), is announcing a second grant competition to identify three community colleges across the United States to receive three-year grants to implement the BACK TO WORK 50+: Women’s Economic Stability Initiative.  Selected community colleges will help women age 50 and older find local jobs and build the financial capability to make sound decisions that reduce debt, rebuild savings and pave the way to greater financial stability.

Interested community colleges are strongly encouraged to email a letter of intent by: September 25, 2015to SIF@aarp.org.  Applications are due October 22, 2015 and must be completed online at:www.aarpfoundation.org/sif.  

Community colleges located in the following states are eligible to apply: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

“AARP Foundation is very pleased to announce this additional opportunity to help older women who face disproportionately higher rates of long-term unemployment find the good jobs they need to avoid slipping into poverty,” said Emily Allen, AARP Foundation, vice president Income Impact Area.  “Our Back to Work 50+: WESI Initiative has made great progress over the past year, and we are looking forward to identifying additional partners who can help set older workers on the path toward rejoining the workforce.”  

AARP Foundation’s BACK TO WORK 50+: Women’s Economic Stability Initiative is supported by the Social Innovation Fund (SIF), a key White House initiative and program of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which combines public and private resources to grow the impact of innovative, community-based solutions that have compelling evidence of improving the lives of people in low-income communities throughout the United States.

The grantees will take part in a rigorous evaluation of the BACK TO WORK 50+: Women’s Economic Stability Initiative (WESI).  This is the second Women’s Economic Stability Initiative grant competition; AARP Foundation awarded grants in March 2015 to five community colleges to implement this initiative. 

The BACK TO WORK 50+: Woman’s Economic Stability Initiative is a subset of the broader BACK TO WORK 50+ pilot that was launched by AARP Foundation in 2013. BACK TO WORK 50+ has expanded to 23 markets across 16 states and has provided over 10,000 unemployed workers information and resources to help them find work. The program underscores AARP Foundation’s commitment to helping workers age 50 and over win back opportunity.

To learn more visit: www.aarpfoundation.org/sif. 

Interested community colleges must email a letter of intent by: September 25, 2015 to SIF@aarp.org.  

Applications due: October 22, 2015 at 11:59PM EST and must be completed online at: www.aarpfoundation.org/sif

About AARP Foundation:

 AARP Foundation is working to win back opportunity for struggling Americans 50+ by being a force for change on the most serious issues they face today: housing, hunger, income and isolation. By coordinating responses to these issues on all four fronts at once, and supporting them with vigorous legal advocacy, the Foundation serves the unique needs of those 50+ while working with local organizations nationwide to reach more people, strengthen communities, work more efficiently and make resources go further. AARP Foundation is AARP’s affiliated charity. Learn more at www.aarpfoundation.org.

About the Social Innovation Fund:

The Social Innovation Fund, a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), positions the federal government to be a catalyst for impact—using public and private resources to find and grow community-based nonprofits with evidence of strong results.  It focuses on overcoming challenges confronting low-income Americans in three areas of priority need: economic opportunity, healthy futures, and youth development. To learn more, visit www.nationalservice.gov/sif

About the Corporation for National and Community Service:

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Social Innovation Fund, and Volunteer Generation Fund programs, and leads the President's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.