The Chester County Community Foundation recently announced the awarding of $59,000 in grants through the Wentworth Association Fund for Senior Housing, organized under the auspices of the foundation. After reviewing competitive grant applications, volunteer members of a community-based grant panel awarded $59,000 to 10 nonprofits in the Chester County region.

The Wentworth Association Fund for Senior Housing was organized after the dissolution of the Wentworth Association nonprofit organization and the sale of the former Wentworth Senior Home in West Chester. The former members of the board of directors said they felt that the assets of the organization could best be used to benefit a greater number of senior Chester County residents through the annual distribution of grants to nonprofits whose missions and programs provide services and benefits to seniors age 55 and older.

The panelists allocated $10,000 to Barclay Friends for its CARES resident assistance and horticultural therapy programs; $10,000 to the Friends Association for its Eviction Prevention Court (EPC) Program; $7,500 to Phoenixville Area Senior Center to support its strategic plan refinement; $10,000 to United Way of Chester County for its Mobile Home Reassessment Project; $2,000 to Good Neighbors Inc. in Kennett Square; $2,000 to The Hickman Friends Senior Community of West Chester; $5,500 to Coatesville Area Adult Senior Center/Brandywine Active Aging; $5,000 to PA Home of the Sparrow; and $5,000 to Phoenixville Women's Outreach.

The grant panelists included former Wentworth Home board member Susan Casso; Erik Gudmundson, chair of the Community Foundation's Grants and Scholarship Policy Committee; and educator and community leader Natalie Ortega Moran.