Grants for Parkinson's Support Groups 2026: 119 Funders

Parkinson's program source review, Grantsights, November 1, 2026: Grantsights checked the Administration for Community Living (ACL) page on Older Americans Act Title III-D health promotion (opens in a new tab), the statute behind it at 42 U.S.C. 3030m on govinfo.gov (opens in a new tab), the ACL Lifespan Respite Care Program (opens in a new tab) page, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Parkinson's center pages for veterans and families (opens in a new tab) and the IRS page about Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab) against foundation filings that name Parkinson's groups. Where official sources stop: no federal page says what it costs to rent a gym for twice-weekly classes, insure volunteer coaches or certify a boxing instructor, so a request has to bring those figures itself.

4 Kinds of Parkinson's Groups and What Funders Want From Each

Grantsights sorted the 37 confirmed recipients (93% of the 40 checked) into 4 rough groups, and each one makes a different case to a funder. This table is illustrative, not data: sizes and budgets vary a lot from group to group.

A volunteer group with a $3,000 budget shouldn't write like a regional association. It wins by being specific: 22 people at last month's meeting, a caregiver session that started because spouses asked for it, a church that gives the room free.

Grants for Parkinson's Support Groups: What 990-PF Filings Show

Private foundations that file IRS Form 990-PF are one of the main outside funders of Parkinson's groups, but walks, member dues and family memorial gifts often cover more of a small group's costs. According to IRS guidance on the form, private foundations use Form 990-PF to report their charitable distributions and activities, so every gift here traces to a filing. Grantsights analysis of 990-PF health grants pulled November 1, 2026 found 119 foundations that made 190 grants to Parkinson's support groups, associations and exercise programs, totaling $2,265,596.

That's about $11,900 per grant on average, and the average is misleading. According to the Grantsights foundation filing data pulled November 1, 2026, the median grant was $2,000, a quarter of gifts were $500 or less, and 142 of the 190 grants (75%) were $5,000 or less. This is a field of small checks from local family foundations. A group asking a new funder for $25,000 is asking for more than 12 times the typical gift.

A few gifts carry the total

The 4 largest gifts add up to $1,125,000, about half the national total, according to the November 1, 2026 pull. Here are the biggest gifts to groups that serve people with Parkinson's now:

These rows explain 2 state totals. Texas shows $651,152 from 10 funders, and Houston Area Parkinson Society (HAPS) drew $500,000 of it from 2 foundations in 2 years. New York shows $846,939, and $700,000 of that is the Simone money, filed to the association's Staten Island office but spent in Arizona.

Gifts that look like a small group's ask

For example, the Dwane L. and Velma Lunt Wallace Charitable Foundation gave Club Parkinson's in Wichita $20,000 in 2023 for local support programs for patients and caregivers, and the Les and Sissy Donovan Foundation gave the same group $2,000 in both 2023 and 2025. One organization in North Carolina, the Bike Box Project in New Bern, got $2,500 from the Helmut and Carmen Weisser Foundation in 2024 for a support group for families dealing with Parkinson's. In Wisconsin, the Elwyn Remington Foundation gave the Senior Center of Langlade County in Antigo $10,000 in 2024 to expand its Parkinson's program, and the Green Bay Packers Foundation gave $4,000 in 2023 to a Plymouth intergenerational center for brain and body classes for people with Parkinson's.

Parkinson's Group Grants by State

14 states had 3 or more foundations giving to Parkinson's groups in the November 1, 2026 pull. This table counts health-tagged gifts by the state where the recipient files.

Colorado, Indiana, Missouri, Virginia and Wisconsin had 3 funders each. New York's 36 is mostly gifts to the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA), whose national office files in New York. That matters for a local group: APDA runs chapters and a support group network, and a group that joins it can sometimes reach money a family foundation sent to the national office. Gifts to the Parkinson's Foundation's Miami and New York offices work the same way.

Florida's 24 funders lean toward regional associations and exercise programs. The St. Joe Community Foundation gave Parkinsons Strong in Santa Rosa Beach $15,000 in 2023 and $20,000 in 2024. The Lipton Foundation gave the JCC Rock Steady Boxing program in Miami $11,062 in 2023 and $10,000 in 2024. The Jacarlene Foundation, Florida's free preview sample, says it takes requests and lists what to send, deadlines, limits and a contact, and it gave the Parkinson's Association of Southwest Florida in Naples $10,000 in 2025.

Kansas punches above its size. Besides Club Parkinson's, the Suhor Family Foundation gave the Parkinson's Exercise and Wellness Center in Overland Park $2,000 in 2023 and $10,000 in 2024 for classes aimed at balance, speech and movement, and the Patterson Family Foundation gave the Parkinson's Foundation of Northwest Kansas in Colby $12,000 in 2023.

California's Parkinson's funders

California's 11 foundations made 12 health grants to Parkinson's groups worth $98,915, according to the November 1, 2026 pull. The free preview on the Grantsights health funder list for California leads with the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, whose filings say it takes requests and list what to send, deadlines and a contact. It gave the Ballet Resource Active Volunteer Association in Riverside $10,000 in 2024 toward Movement for Life, a dance class for people with Parkinson's. The Etheridge Family Foundation gave Parkinson's Resource Organization in Palm Desert $11,000 in 2023 for patient care. California's count is low for a state its size, and a group there should also look at senior and disability funders who don't use the word Parkinson's at all.

Why the Health List for Parkinson's Groups

Health is the right list, though not by a landslide. Most Parkinson's gifts in the filings carry no cause tag at all, because much of that money is research funding or gifts to national foundations. Among the tagged gifts, health leads. A group that serves people now, rather than funding a cure, fits the health list best.

According to Grantsights analysis of 990-PF health filings pulled October 29, 2026, the typical health gift in these 6 states runs from $5,000 to $10,000, more than double the $2,000 Parkinson's median. That gap is the opening: many of these funders give to health causes generally and have never been asked by a Parkinson's group. One state's health list is $29, or $99 covers every cause in every state for a year, and either list can be refunded within 30 days.

What ACL Doesn't Tell You About Parkinson's Funding

No federal program pays Parkinson's support groups directly, and ACL's pages don't say how a volunteer group with a $5,000 budget can reach the money that does exist. Read the rules beside the filings and 5 points stand out.

1. Title III-D money is for older adults and evidence-based programs. According to ACL, Title III-D of the Older Americans Act (OAA) has given formula grants to State Units on Aging since 1987 for health promotion for people 60 and older. The statute, 42 U.S.C. 3030m (opens in a new tab), says the services can run at senior centers, meal sites or other sites, and it tells ACL to use other community groups' services where it can. Since the fiscal year (FY) 2012 appropriations law, the money must go to programs that meet ACL's evidence-based definition.
2. Your class probably isn't on the list. ACL's definition asks for a peer-reviewed evaluation with older adults and at least one community rollout. A boxing class built by a local coach usually won't qualify. A common mistake is pitching it to the state as Title III-D work anyway. The better move is to host or co-host an approved falls or exercise program at a senior center and run your own class beside it.
3. Caregiver relief has its own federal stream. According to ACL, Congress appropriated $10 million for the Lifespan Respite Care Program (opens in a new tab) in FY 2025, and ACL has made competitive grants to agencies in 39 states and the District of Columbia since 2009. A caregiver group can't apply on its own, but it can ask its state respite coalition whether respite vouchers reach Parkinson's families. The Grantsights guide to grants for respite care programs covers that route.
4. Veterans have a separate network. According to VA records, the department created 6 Parkinson's Disease Research, Education and Clinical Centers (PADRECCs) in 2001 to serve an estimated 80,000 veterans with Parkinson's. The VA's page for veterans and families (opens in a new tab) lists the centers' own education series and support groups, including an early-onset group and a caregiver group run from Richmond. A local group with many veteran members should list those meetings and ask the nearest center about co-hosting a talk.
5. Federal money moves slowly and through others. Title III-D funds pass from the state to area agencies before any reach a provider. For a group spending $8,000 a year, 3 local foundations at the $2,000 median will often arrive faster than any federal dollar.

What most guides skip: the federal route matters more for credibility than cash. A group listed with its area agency on aging gets referrals, and referrals become the attendance numbers that local foundations want to see.

What Parkinson's Projects Foundations Pay For

Grantsights checked the purposes on the gifts in the November 1, 2026 pull against the kinds of projects small groups propose, and 7 project types came up again and again.

1. Exercise, dance and support groups together. The Hamill Foundation's 2023 and 2024 gifts to HAPS paid for virtual and in-person exercise, dance and support groups.
2. Boxing programs. The Elster Forbes Foundation and the William Mead Regan Foundation each gave Rock Steady Boxing in Indianapolis $5,000, in 2025 and 2024.
3. Voice programs. The New Covenant Foundation gave Parkinson Voice Project in Richardson, Texas $50,000 in 2024, and the Pauline Allen Gill Foundation gave it $10,000 in 2023.
4. Healthy living programs. The Andrew Cader Foundation gave the Maryland Association for Parkinson Support $50,000 in both 2023 and 2024 for programs that encourage healthy lifestyles.
5. Free wellness classes. The Eisai USA Foundation gave the Parkinson Association of the Rockies $5,000 in 2025 for free wellness programs for Colorado residents.
6. Education and support. The John A. and Marlene L. Boll Foundation gave the Michigan Parkinson Foundation $4,500 in both 2023 and 2024 for services, support and education.
7. Exercise in small cities. The Jack Kagan Foundation gave Punching Out Parkinsons in Santa Fe $5,000 in 2022 and again in 2024.

The pattern: name the class or meeting, say how often it runs and how many come, and ask for the cost of keeping it open. Repeat gifts are common in these filings, so a first $2,500 check is worth treating as the start of a yearly relationship.

Budgeting a Parkinson's Program for a Grant

Most groups underestimate what twice-weekly classes cost once volunteers burn out and the free room goes away. A single $2,000 grant, the median in the pull, rarely covers a year of coach pay alone. This table is illustrative, not data: costs vary by city and by who donates what.

Report classes held, average attendance, new members, caregivers served and towns reached. Keep it to program facts. Funders don't need health claims, and a group shouldn't make them.

Common Mistakes in Parkinson's Grant Requests

These 6 mistakes come up when a group writes for its members instead of a funder, and most of them cost more than the $2,000 a typical gift brings in.

• Asking for research money. A red flag for a family foundation is a support group that describes itself as fighting for a cure. If you serve people now, say so; cure language sends your request to the research pile.
• Using the total as a target. A common mistake is reading the $2.27 million total as a sign of large grants. Check a funder's usual check with how to read a 990-PF before you pick a number.
• No tax status of your own. Many groups meet under a hospital, church or senior center. Read about fiscal sponsors before you ask, or apply through the host.
• Hiding the caregivers. Spouses and adult children often attend too. Count them; caregiver support opens a second set of funders.
• Medical language. Describe what the program does (classes, meetings, rides), not what it treats. Funders read health claims as a liability.
• Overlooking brain health neighbors. A group that also serves people with other movement disorders or dementia can compare funders in grants for dementia care programs.

A Parkinson's Group's Funding Calendar

This 12-month plan suits a group with monthly meetings and weekly classes. Adjust it to your own year.

The Grantsights grant database tracks open federal and state health and aging notices, including state programs that reach community groups.

Related Guides for Parkinson's Groups

The funders behind these 190 grants also give to other groups that serve older adults and people with neurological conditions. Groups that hold classes at a senior center will find overlapping funders in grants for senior centers, and those with boxing or cycling programs should read grants for adaptive sports programs.

Programs that use singing or drumming for voice and movement can compare notes in grants for music therapy programs. Groups that serve people with stroke or head injuries beside Parkinson's should look at grants for brain injury programs. Groups that run exercise classes for older adults with more than one chronic condition can look at the clinic and coalition funders in grants for diabetes prevention programs.

FAQ: Common Questions

How many foundations give grants to Parkinson's support groups? 119 in Grantsights' search of 990-PF health grants pulled November 1, 2026.

How much does a typical Parkinson's support group grant pay? The median was $2,000, and 75% of gifts were $5,000 or less.

Is there a federal grant just for Parkinson's support groups? No. Title III-D health promotion and Lifespan Respite money reach groups only through state and local agencies.

Can a Rock Steady Boxing affiliate get foundation grants? Yes, through its own 501(c)(3) or a host, usually for $5,000 to $11,000.

Does this guide cover Parkinson's research grants? No. It covers groups that serve people with Parkinson's now.

Why is New York's funder count so high? APDA's national office files there, so gifts for its chapters count in New York.

Sources

• ACL: Older Americans Act Title III-D health promotion and the evidence-based definition (opens in a new tab)
• 42 U.S.C. 3030m: disease prevention and health promotion grants to states (govinfo.gov) (opens in a new tab)
• ACL: Lifespan Respite Care Program, purpose and funding history (opens in a new tab)
• VA Parkinson's centers: information and support groups for veterans and families (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: About Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab)