The Future of Aging: Community, Care, and Collective Power
2025 Annual Report
Letter from Leadership
Janet Y. Spears President and Chief Executive Officer
Aging is a universal experience, but the conditions in which we age are not. This year underscored how deeply those conditions are shaped by the people, systems, and supports we rely on every day.
As conversations about cuts to public programs and social safety nets intensified, we saw how quickly stability can erode for older adults, caregivers, and families. Systems that people depend on — often invisibly — are under increasing strain.
And yet, alongside that strain, we also saw extraordinary leadership from community-based organizations responding with care, creativity, and determination. They organized, advocated, and cared for one another — often stepping in where systems fell short. Their work reminds us that resilience is not abstract. It is built through relationships, trust, and sustained investment in community power.
At Metta Fund, this moment reinforced a dual responsibility: to defend what people depend on today while also supporting efforts to transform systems for the future. We are investing in organizations working on the frontlines to protect critical services and supports, while also advancing longterm solutions that reimagine how care, health, and wellbeing are structured.
This means supporting work that protects dignity, strengthens care, and challenges the structures that shape how — and whether — people can age with dignity and belonging.
We believe the choices made in this moment will shape how all of us experience aging in the years ahead. Our commitment is to stand with partners who are building a future where growing older is met with care, connection, and collective responsibility.
The Moment We’re In
We are living through a period of profound demographic and political change. More people are living longer, caring for loved ones across generations, and relying on systems that were not designed for the realities of today.
At the same time, proposed and enacted reductions to healthcare, income supports, and social services have intensified risks for older adults — especially people with low incomes, immigrants,
people of color, and those living with disabilities.
Metta Fund’s approach this year centered on understanding how these forces intersect, and on supporting organizations that respond not just to symptoms, but to root causes. We asked: What does it take to ensure people can age with dignity amid instability — and how can philanthropy help build durable protections?
LG Grassano by Hasain Rasheed ©
Advancing Equity in Aging
In San Francisco and beyond, the experience of aging is shaped by access — to care, to connection, and to the supports people rely on every day.
Too often, those supports are unevenly distributed, leaving many older adults — particularly those most impacted by lifelong racial injustices — without what they need to age with health and dignity.
Metta Fund works to strengthen the conditions that shape how people age.
Through our grantmaking, we support organizations advancing care, building community, and advocating for the systems and resources older adults depend on. We also invest in partnerships and storytelling that expand how aging is understood and valued.
This work reflects a broader belief: that aging is not a separate issue, but a reflection of how well our communities support one another over time.
OUR VISION
We envision inclusive and healthy communities where all can thrive and age with dignity and joy.
OUR MISSION
Through grantmaking and community partnerships, Metta Fund works to advance the health and wellbeing of older San Franciscans.
Cheryl White by Hasain Rasheed ©
Grantee Spotlights
Why We Begin with Grantees
The story of aging is best told by the people living it — and by the organizations working alongside them every day. We begin with grantee voices to ground our work in lived experience, community leadership, and the realities shaping how people age today.
Photo by Brooke Anderson
What’s at Stake as We Age
A Conversation with Kevin Prindiville
Executive Director of Justice in Aging
As demand grows and systems fall short, Justice in Aging is working to ensure older adults have the resources and protections they need to live with dignity.
What defines this moment for older adults in the U.S.?
Nearly half of older adults are already struggling to meet their basic needs — to afford housing, food, and health care. At the same time, the programs people rely on, like Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, are under threat, with government funding cuts that will weaken access to care and economic stability. We’re also seeing the impact of broader policies — including immigration enforcement — that create fear around accessing services, even when people are eligible. Taken together, it creates a growing gap between what people need as they age and what the system is delivering.
Where is the system falling short?
The system is fragmented and often out of reach for the people who need it most. Whether it’s barriers to public benefits, limited access to long-term supports,
or systems that are difficult to navigate, older adults are too often left without the resources they need. And those gaps are most acute for communities that have faced inequities over a lifetime.
What needs to change moving forward?
The future of aging isn’t fixed — it will be shaped by the policy choices we make. That means strengthening the programs people rely on today while also reimagining systems that were never designed to work for everyone. We need a more coordinated, values-driven approach that ensures people can age with economic security, access to care, and real support in their communities.
Moments like this also underscore the role philanthropy can play — not only in defending essential programs, but in supporting advocacy and advancing the long-term policy change needed to build a more equitable future for all of us as we age.
Photo by Nayomiee
SPOTLIGHT
We don’t just provide a service; we provide the platform, tools, and training for communities to amplify their own voices and fight for their own futures.
Building Power Across Aging and Disability
with Senior and Disability Action (SDA)
At a time when aging and disability are often treated as separate issues, Senior and Disability Action (SDA) is building a unified movement grounded in lived experience and collective power.
SDA organizes older adults and people with disabilities — particularly those with low incomes — to advocate for the resources and systems they need to live with dignity. Through leadership development and grassroots organizing, participants are not only accessing services — they are shaping the policies that affect their lives.
This year, SDA advanced several tangible wins, including improvements to paratransit services, new investments in wheelchair repair, and over $10 million secured for elevator repairs in San Francisco’s singleroom occupancy housing. Through programs like Survival School and SDA University, members build the skills and confidence to lead campaigns and advocate for systemic change.
Their model reflects a fundamental shift: from service delivery to community power.
Erik Greenfrost, Senior and Disability Action
Photo by Hasain Rasheed ©
Photo by Hasain Rasheed ©
For Caring Across Generations, aging is not an isolated experience — it is part of a broader care system that connects families, workers, and communities across the country.
Through national organizing and advocacy, the organization is building momentum for a comprehensive care infrastructure — one that ensures older adults and people with disabilities can access the support they need, while also improving conditions for caregivers.
This year, Caring Across Generations helped lead a national conversation
The Road Ahead: A National Conversation on Care
So many of us caretakers are up searching for answers in the middle of the night.
Nicole Jorwic, Caring Across Generations
about the future of care through its Care Can’t Wait Coalition and Care Fellowship programs. By bringing together caregivers, advocates, and policymakers, they are advancing a vision of care as a public good — essential to economic stability and collective wellbeing.
Their work also centers the lived experience of caregivers, many of whom navigate complex systems with little support.
By organizing a “Caring Majority,” the organization is helping transform care from a private burden into a shared societal responsibility.
Our leaders were experiencing a lot of danger… they were left out of evacuations, and then asked to clean up after fires with no protection.
Megan
, California Domestic Workers Coalition
Championing
Elders and Domestic Workers with The California Domestic Workers Coalition (CDWC)
The California Domestic Workers Coalition (CDWC) is advancing a powerful vision for care — one that recognizes the dignity and rights of both elders and the workers who support them.
Domestic workers play a critical role in enabling older adults to age safely at home, yet their labor has long been excluded from basic protections. CDWC is working to change that through organizing, policy advocacy, and leadership development.
This year, the Coalition advanced key efforts including implementation of the
California Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, recovery of unpaid wages through the Domestic Worker Enforcement Pilot Program, and continued advocacy for long-term care systems that center both workers and care recipients.
Their work also highlights the risks domestic workers face — particularly in times of crisis.
At its core, CDWC’s work underscores a simple but often overlooked truth: care systems depend on the wellbeing of workers.
Whelan Escobar
Photo by Joyce Xi
Photo by Joyce Xi
These stories are not isolated — they reflect broader patterns and possibilities across California and beyond.
From grassroots organizing to national advocacy, each spotlight illustrates what it takes to build a future where aging is supported by strong systems, valued care work, and community leadership. Together, they show that lasting change happens when those most impacted lead the way.
The sections that follow explore how Metta Fund supports this work through grantmaking, partnerships, advocacy, and long-term investment.
Photo by Hasain Rasheed ©
Defending What Matters. Transforming What’s Possible.
Grantmaking in Action 2025 Grantees
Our grantmaking strategy is shaped by what we hear from the field. This year, we invested in organizations responding to immediate threats while advancing long-term systems change across care, health, and belonging.
$4,010,600 GRANTED
& Leadership:
Social Connectedness: $1,691,250
In a year of growing uncertainty for older adults, we increased our investment in advocacy and community-based organizations, recognizing the need for both immediate support and long-term change.
Jarmin Yeh, Board Chair
Aging While Black
Bayview Hunters Point Multipurpose Senior Services
Bayview Hunters Point YMCA (YMCA of Greater San Francisco)
Booker T. Washington Community Service Center
California Department of Health Care Services
California Domestic Workers Coalition*
CARA Education Fund
Caring Across Generations
Chinatown YMCA (YMCA of Greater San Francisco)
Coalition of Agencies Serving the Elderly (CASE)
Community Forward
Community Tech Network
Dignity Fund Coalition (project of Community Living Campaign)
Diverse Elders Coalition*
Felton Institute
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network*
Homecare Cooperative Initiative (Now called Vivid Life)*
Instituto de la Raza
Jewish Home and Senior Living Foundation
Justice in Aging
Kimochi, Inc.
Latino Task Force*
Meals on Wheels of San Francisco
Mission Neighborhood Centers, Inc.
Mission YMCA (YMCA of Greater San Francisco)
Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA)
Native American Health Center
Northern California Grantmakers
OMI Senior Center (program of Felton Institute)
PACT Inc.
ReWork the Bay’s Community Caregiving Initiative: San Francisco Pilot*
Samoan Community Development Center
San Francisco African American Faith-Based Coalition
San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network (SFILEN) and the Rapid Response Network (RRN)*
San Francisco Senior and Disability Action
SCAN Foundation (Master Plan for Aging Implementation)
Self-Help for the Elderly
SF Tech Council (program of Community Living Campaign)
SFNCT’s Healthy Behaviors for Aging & Older Adults*
South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN)*
Southwest Community Corporation
The Cornerstone Campaign*
The Healing WELL*
Transgender Gender Variant Intersex
Justice Project
US4US BAYAREA
Wildflowers Institute
* Fiscally Sponsored
Shaping the Narrative on Aging
How we understand aging shapes how we respond to it. For philanthropy, investing in narrative is not ancillary, it is foundational to building the public will, policy environment, and cultural conditions needed for lasting change. Yet aging is still too often framed through crisis, scarcity, or decline — limiting what solutions feel possible.
Metta Fund invests in storytelling and cultural strategies that challenge ageism and expand how aging is understood — not as a separate experience, but as something that connects all of us.
A central part of this work is When We Grow Older, developed in partnership with Caring Across Generations and the Center for Cultural Power. Through storytelling, art, and public engagement, the project brings forward the voices and experiences
of people as they grow older, inviting a broader public to see aging as a shared experience.
This year, we expanded the collection to include new works by Emory Douglas, Juana Alicia, and Juan R. Fuentes, deepening its connection to racial, economic, and cultural justice. Fuentes’ illustration, Migration, evokes movement across time, place, and identity — and invites reflection on how immigration and policy shape who is afforded the opportunity to age with dignity and support.
This is long-term work. By broadening how aging is represented and understood, these efforts contribute to a more inclusive conversation about care, community, and our shared future.
Migration by Juan R. Fuentes
The California Master Plan for Aging
California’s Master Plan for Aging continues to shape how the state approaches aging, care, and long-term wellbeing.
Metta Fund was an early philanthropic partner in the development of the state’s first-in-the-nation Master Plan for Aging, supporting efforts to help establish a shared framework for addressing the needs of an aging population. Since 2019, Metta Fund and its philanthropic partners have also supported the Plan’s development and implementation through an MPA Fund, leveraging resources for research and technical assistance to build capacity and help advance key initiatives.
Our grantmaking continues to reflect many of the same priorities: strengthening care, supporting community-based organizations, and advancing more equitable outcomes for older adults.
At a time when public investments are increasingly uncertain, the Master Plan underscores the importance of sustained, coordinated efforts across sectors — and the role philanthropy should play in reinforcing and extending that work. Looking ahead, the continued progress of the Plan will depend on how effectively these efforts translate into meaningful improvements in the lives of older adults and their communities.
Impact Investing: Aligning Capital with Values
Our commitment to equity doesn’t stop at our grantmaking. It extends to how we invest, ensuring all our financial resources reflect the values we embrace and are fully deployed to achieve Metta’s mission.
Thurman V. White, Jr., Board Member
We are actively implementing this approach across our portfolio, with a clear goal of full alignment. This work strengthens our ability to advance equity in aging by ensuring that all our resources are working in the same direction.
Metta Fund’s approach to impact investing reflects a simple premise: how we invest matters.
In 2025, we took an important step forward by adopting a new Investment Policy Statement that formalizes our commitment to aligning our assets with our mission. This includes a goal of reaching 100% mission-aligned investing by the end of 2026.
This shift reflects a commitment to ensuring that all our resources — not just our grantmaking — are aligned with our values. It represents a more intentional approach to how we steward our assets, recognizing that investment decisions can either reinforce or run counter to the outcomes we seek to advance.
Impact investing is one way Metta Fund aligns its financial resources with its mission — supporting solutions that strengthen care, belonging, and wellbeing.
Photo by Jean Melesaine
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Metta Fund Team
Roma Guy
Vargas
STAFF
Janet Y. Spears President and Chief Executive Officer
Catherine Collen Senior Program and Grants Officer
Renée Espinoza Director of Program Strategy
Brigitte Garcia Director of Administration
Helen Huynh Controller
Anna Karrer Manley Vice President of Communications and Strategy
Mimi Kelly Program and Grants Associate
Cheryll Puyot Administrative and Communications Associate
Roberto
Parvin Manuchehri
Thurman V. White, Jr.
Sonia Melara
John Woodward
Debra Plousha-Moore
Jarmin Yeh
Aging Shared is a Future
The work of advancing equity in aging is neither simple nor short-term. It requires sustained commitment, collective effort, and a willingness to confront the realities many older adults face.
Across these pages, we see the leadership of organizations and communities working to strengthen care, build connection, and expand what it means to age with dignity and belonging.
In the face of growing need and uncertainty, their work reminds us that change is already underway — built through relationships, persistence, and shared purpose.
Together, we share a responsibility to shape a future where everyone can age with dignity, belonging, and care — for this generation and those to come.
With Gratitude
We are deeply grateful to our grantees, partners, board members, and collaborators. Your leadership and commitment make this work possible — and remind us that resilience is something we build together.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Brooke Anderson
Jean Melesaine
Hasain Rasheed
Joyce Xi
A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU
To all the people who shared their stories and posed for our cameras. All photography was captured with a focus on the health, safety, and dignity of our subjects.
SPECIAL THANKS TO
California Domestic Workers Coalition
Caring Across Generations
Cheryl White
Damaris Hansen
Elgee Lorraine Grassano
Erik Greenfrost
Kevin Prindiville
Justice in Aging
Leticia A. Malvar
Louis A. Hernandez
Naya Harrison
Nicole Jorwic
Megan Whelan Escobar
Rickey Moore
San Francisco Senior and Disability Action
mettafund.org
For media inquiries, please contact media@mettafund.org