RRF Foundation for Aging

Address: 8765 W. Higgins Road, #430 Chicago, IL 60631
Phone: 773.714.8080
Web: www.rrf.org
Email: info@rrf.org

Based in Chicago, Illinois, RRF Foundation for Aging (RRF), formerly known as The Retirement Research Foundation, is a national grantmaking organization. It was incorporated in 1950 by John D. MacArthur and endowed at the time of his death in 1978. For more than 40 years, RRF has funded programs that support older people.

Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than 5,000 grants worth over $250 million—dedicated to improving the quality of life for all of us as we age. RRF’s grantmaking centers on priority areas that are fundamental to allowing all individuals to age where and how they choose. RRF was one of the first private foundations to focus exclusively on adult aging issues and continues to support a range of innovative and solution-oriented efforts, both in Illinois and nationally.

Program Information:

RRF’s four priority areas are family caregiving, economic security in later life, safe and affordable housing for older adults, and social and intergenerational connectedness. RRF-funded programs supporting these areas comprise a comprehensive portfolio and body of work dedicated to the health, well-being, and overall quality of life of older people.

RRF’s advocacy, direct service, research, professional training, and organizational capacity-building grants support the Foundation’s priority areas to:

Ensure that family caregivers are informed, well-trained, and supported, while providing care to older people in community settings.
Promote the dignity and healthy, sustainable lifestyles of older people through efforts that ensure and protect their economic security and well-being.
Support efforts that foster healthy living environments through affordable housing and coordinated services allowing older people to thrive in community settings.
Address isolation and loneliness among older adults, strengthening social bonds through efforts that promote meaningful connections, including those that span generations.
Improve the management and governance of organizations in Illinois that prioritize older adults.

Financial Information:

Total Assets: $150 million (FY22)
Amount Dedicated to US Health-Related Grants: $1,975,600 (FY22)

Special Initiatives and/or Representative Health and Human Services Grants

Rush University Medical Center (Rush)—RRF provided seed funding and continued support for Rush’s Caregiver Initiative, which will soon expand into the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement. The John A. Hartford Foundation is funding the scaled-up phase of the Rush Caregiver Initiative, which allows for expansion, building upon the original program model. The expansion supports family caregiving best practices and will disseminate the program to 25 to 40 health systems. This grant follows the earlier planning project by Rush to improve the care of older adults by addressing the needs of family caregivers. The expansion will increase awareness within health systems of the importance of family caregivers and, in partnership with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, identify and integrate a set of scalable model elements across the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement. ($75,000 in 2022; $104,469 in 2021)

Shriver Center on Poverty Law—The Healthy Illinois Campaign’s advocacy efforts made Illinois the first state to offer Medicaid-like health care coverage to uninsured, low-income, older immigrants regardless of their immigration status through the Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors Program. In the program’s first year, 11,000 uninsured immigrants, ages 65 and older, received health care coverage for the first time at a value of $140 million. RRF supported the advocacy efforts of the Healthy Illinois Campaign through funding to the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, a Healthy Illinois executive committee member. Healthy Illinois, along with its more than 70 partner organizations, led the campaign that resulted in this legislative victory. It is now working on expanding the program and helping many more states make their cases. ($35,000 in 2022; $40,000 in 2021)

Center for Medicare Advocacy and Medicare Rights Center—RRF provided three-year, core support grants for two organizations that address access to and affordability of Medicare. The Medicare Rights Center trains professionals on all aspects of Medicare and helps consumers navigate through the complexities of the Medicare program via a free online service. The Center for Medicare Advocacy trains members of the legal profession on Medicare issues and addresses the need for policy reforms. Before RRF’s core support of these two entities, the Foundation recognized the value of a potential connection and encouraged collaboration. As a result, these two organizations now partner frequently to build on their respective strengths. ($750,000 total)