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AgeWell Pittsburgh is Grand Prize Winner of 2017 Collaboration Prize

Collaboration among three Pittsburgh-based community organizations wins $150,000 grand prize

AgeWell Pittsburgh is the winner of the 2017 Collaboration Prize — a national award designed to spotlight exceptional permanent models of collaboration among nonprofit organizations. The nonprofit partnership that supports older adults and their caregivers in leading healthy and independent lives will receive the grand prize of $150,000.

“Winning the 2017 Collaboration Prize not only provides these great agencies with national validation but also shows the role permanent collaboration can play to help nonprofits improve outcomes for the communities we serve,” said Jeff Finkelstein, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

AgeWell Pittsburgh is the central outreach and coordinating umbrella for activities and programs for seniors provided by three Pittsburgh-based community benefit organizations: the Jewish Association on Aging (JAA), Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JF&CS) and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh (JCC). The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh also facilitates the collaboration, and the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania and Jewish Federation help to fund the effort.

Formed 14 years ago, AgeWell serves 8,000 seniors and thousands of family members. The nonprofit collaboration offers more than 20 different services, such as home-delivered meals, transportation assistance and social opportunities across the three collaborating agencies.

“The AgeWell Pittsburgh collaboration has strengthened each of our agencies by helping us to focus on what we do best, and in turn our clients have clearly reaped the benefits through improved outcomes. As we collectively continue to refine our business strategy, we see similar collaborations starting across the country modeled on our Pittsburgh experience – what a great way to share our successes,” said Deborah Winn-Horvitz, president and CEO of the JAA.

Currently, 96 percent of the 7,000 seniors enrolled in AgeWell Pittsburgh services are able to live independently because of the assistance they receive. These outcomes have motivated nonprofits in other communities to replicate this model and benefit from the structure and spirit of ongoing collaboration.

“As a result of our collaboration, we were able to reduce duplication of services and capitalize on efficiencies in service delivery. We’ve also been able to improve our senior care and identify programmatic changes to better serve members of our community,” said Sue Berman Kress, volunteer chairman of the AgeWell Pittsburgh Advisory Committee.