The Milwaukee Aging Consortium is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to improving the lives of older adults by connecting the professionals who serve them. Our membership includes community-based agencies, residential facilities, allied health organizations, legal advocates, businesses, academic institutions, public agencies, specialized aging networks, and others.

The current organization grew out of a volunteer-driven network formed in 1986 that was known as the Older Adult Service Providers Consortium. The Milwaukee Aging Consortium incorporated in 2002 as an independent non-profit organization. Over time, infrastructure and capacity have been developed to support the growing demand for information, networking, and partnership. Currently this includes a small staff and a governing, fourteen-member volunteer Board of Directors.

The Milwaukee Aging Consortium is vital to Milwaukee because:

• Dramatic growth in the aging population will continue to add stress on community support systems — including families, neighborhoods and service providers.
• The network of agencies, businesses and public programs serving the elderly is very complex.
• Community professionals are interdependent and challenged to find the appropriate resources at the right time.

Why We Matter

Aging affects every aspect of one's life including medical, social, financial, and personal needs. These needs are constantly changing. Word of mouth referrals from one professional to another and from professional to client are the key to accessing services.

The Milwaukee Aging Consortium brings together every sector of care and all levels of professional service to learn from one another, address constituent needs and find suitable partners for collaboration. The Milwaukee Aging Consortium is a hub of connectivity and knowledge. It is also a hub for cross-sector partnership in order to remove the barriers to aging quality of life.

Our History

The Milwaukee Aging Consortium grew out of the Older Adult Service Providers Consortium, an informal network of social service agencies that began in 1986. In 2001, a strategic plan was developed with support from the Helen Bader and Faye McBeath Foundations which transformed this organization into the Milwaukee Aging Consortium with the hiring of the first paid staff. A new Board was recruited and a separately incorporated 501(c)3 was formed in 2002. This was followed by requiring paid membership so that relevant programs could be presented every year.

These programs focus on helping equip professionals with the knowledge and tools they need to provide the best possible care and attention to older people and their families. Programs and structure have been built as resources have become available, based on our business plan, which was developed with support from the Nonprofit Management Fund.