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August 10, 2026 – Portland, Oregon – The Center for Outcomes Research & Education (CORE) and The SCAN Foundation have announced the release of a new toolkit focused on Community-Led Change for Older Adults.
This free, in-depth resource for community organizing is part of a two-year initiative of The SCAN Foundation that convened groups of older adults in four California communities to identify local health inequities and co-create solutions.
Developed by CORE, the toolkit pairs learnings from the groups’ community organizing journeys with best practices, worksheets, resource links and more.
Download the toolkit and worksheets to explore how community-led organizing can help advance a more equitable future for older adults!
About the ECO Group project
In 2024, three California foundations came together to fund the creation of four “Equity Community Organizing Groups” (ECO Groups). The idea was to convene small, self-directed groups of older adults in historically marginalized communities. Then the groups would work together to identify a health inequity and co-design solutions.
With support from The SCAN Foundation, California Health Care Foundation, and Metta Fund, four groups were formed, representing two rural and two urban communities.
- Booker T. Washington ECO Group - San Francisco
- Sankofa Elders ECO Group - Los Angeles
- Cloverdale ECO Group - Northern Sonoma County
- Imperial Valley ECO Group - Imperial County
CORE served as a collaborative learning partner on the project, gathering data, insights and feedback directly from the groups to help guide their efforts in real time.
Read more about the ECO Group project in CORE’s blog: Supporting community-driven change for older adults. Or learn more about the ECO groups and their focus areas in the toolkit!
Sharing what we learned
To help others learn from this innovative project, The SCAN Foundation again partnered with CORE to create a practical toolkit.
Developed with valuable input from group members and staff, the toolkit captures lessons learned from the ECO Group experience. It serves as a guide through each stage of the community organizing journey, from recruiting members and building trust to taking action and sustaining long-term impact.
“We’re grateful to CORE for their efforts to capture and incorporate the voices and experiences of ECO Group members in this toolkit,” said Erin Westphal, Director of Policy, Programs, and Operations, The SCAN Foundation. “Those practical, real-world insights are sure to prove useful for other organizations and groups interested in pursuing similar, older adult-led community organizing efforts.”
For more information and to download the toolkit, visit https://www.thescanfoundation.org/resource/eco-groups-toolkit/
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