United Way NWT offering $75K in grants to support seniors during COVID-19

United Way NWT is giving out a total of about $75,000 to projects for elders and seniors it considers most at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Northwest Territories.

The initiative, a partnership with the federal government's New Horizons for Seniors Program, is aimed at "vulnerable elders and seniors" age 55 and over, reads a United Way NWT news release. These include people on low incomes, Indigenous elders, members of a minority group and people living in a "remote setting," and their caregivers.

The program will see grants of up to $5,000 awarded to registered N.W.T. not-for-profits, communities and Indigenous groups through a "fast-track" applicationprocess.

Meghan Kennedy, chair of United Way NWT's COVID-19 committee, said the money can be used on projects that help seniors acquire food, clothing and hygiene products.

It can also go toward efforts to reduce the social isolation of seniors who may be separated from friends and family.

"We're hoping for a lot of applicants," she said.

The federal funding, said Kennedy, was given to the United Way for dispersal among projects that "support getting those food and products to seniors and elders, and anything associated with virtual programs, telephone check-ins, [and] how they're going to get mental health support to the seniors and elders."

Applications are due on April 30, and applicants will be notified by May 6. United Way NWT says it will send the money by May 15.