Caring for a family member with dementia is exhausting work, and it rarely comes with a break. HFC’s Care Grants are designed to give family caregivers some time to rest by covering professional respite care.
What HFC’s Care Grants Cover
HFC, formerly Hilarity for Charity, offers two types of Care Grants:
- In-Home Respite Grant: 100 hours of professional in-home care to use within three months of being awarded.
- Adult Day Center Respite Grant: 24 days of adult day center care to use within three months of your first day of care.
HFC works with Home Instead as its preferred provider to coordinate care for recipients of its in-home grants.
These are service grants, not cash grants. You won’t receive a check to spend however you choose. HFC specifically states that cash awards can’t be issued in place of the respite care provided through the program.
Who Qualifies for an HFC Care Grant?
You’ll need to be able to say yes to all of the following:
- The person you’re caring for has a professional diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, mixed or another dementia, or Parkinson’s-related dementia.
- The person you’re caring for lives at home with you.
- You’re experiencing financial and emotional hardship because of your caregiving responsibilities.
- You live in the United States or Canada. Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories aren’t currently eligible.
HFC doesn’t publish a specific numerical income cutoff for these grants. Instead, applicants must demonstrate financial and emotional hardship related to caregiving.
You can review HFC’s detailed eligibility guidelines before applying.
How Often Can You Apply?
HFC accepts one application per person per quarter, and at least three months must pass between applications.
You can receive a maximum of three Care Grant awards within an 18-month period. Applying again doesn’t guarantee that you’ll receive another grant.
There’s also an important deadline after you’re approved.
If care can’t begin with a licensed provider within 60 days of the award, the grant becomes void. Keep that timeline in mind when applying so you’re prepared to begin arranging care if you’re selected.
How to Apply for an HFC Care Grant
The application process is online:
- Review the Care Grant eligibility guidelines to make sure the program fits your situation.
- Submit your application through HFC’s Submittable application portal.
- Wait for HFC’s decision.
- If you’re approved, work with the program to arrange your respite care within the required timeframe.
The application takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. If caregiving responsibilities make it difficult to complete the application yourself, HFC allows someone else to help you complete it or apply on your behalf.
If you have questions or need help with an existing application, you can contact HFC at care@wearehfc.org.
Relief Recap
HFC’s Care Grants can provide a meaningful break for people caring for a loved one with dementia at home.
Depending on the grant, eligible caregivers can receive either 100 hours of professional in-home respite care or 24 days of Adult Day Center care. These aren’t cash grants, but the covered care can give caregivers time to rest, handle appointments, work or simply take care of their own needs.
You can apply once per quarter, and recipients can receive up to three awards within an 18-month period.
If you’re managing other financial pressures on top of caregiving, our hardship grants roundup has more programs worth checking.
