Local Nonprofit Wins Award

In recognition of what one campaigner for the elderly called "organization-wide commitment to advocacy," a statewide professional association of elder care organizations awarded the St. Louis Park-based nonprofit Sholom its 2012 award for excellence in advocacy. 

“Sholom is a wonderful example of an organization-wide commitment to advocacy," Aging Services of Minnesota Board Chair Bob Dahl said in a written statement emailed to Patch. “Sholom has for years been active in educating their legislators at the state and federal level; and their staff at all levels participate actively in Aging Services grassroots campaigns.”

Sholom serves 2,500 Minnesotan in various stages of later life, from those in assisted living through hospice care in "a Jewish setting," according to a written statement from the organization.

Most recently, the organization mobilized to lobby legislators to prevent $11 billion in proposed cuts to Medicare services that will automatically take effect if Congress cannot agree on a deficit-cutting deal by the end of 2012. In a video produced with the help of some of the people Shalom serves, the organization lobbied members of congress to help keep services its clients depend on from being cut.