The Charless Foundation, a component fund of the St. Louis Community Foundation, is accepting 2026 proposals from nonprofit organizations serving economically insecure adults age 60 and older in targeted South St. Louis City ZIP codes.
Funding: Grants may range from $10,000 to $50,000 per year. Food-bank and food-pantry awards are limited to $10,000 per year per distribution site. New applicants may receive one year of funding; organizations funded by Charless within the past five years may request up to three years, subject to annual reporting.
Deadline: October 7, 2026 at 12:00 PM (noon) CST.
Eligibility: Applicants must be a 501(c)(3) public nonprofit in good standing or have a qualifying 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor. The proposed work must serve economically insecure older adults in the Foundation’s target South St. Louis City ZIP codes. The RFP defines older adults as age 60 or older and economically insecure as living at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
2026 funding focus: Each applicant may submit one application for either home repairs, modifications, weatherization and preservation or food insecurity. Strong proposals help older adults age in place through improved housing quality and financial security, or improve access to nutritious food. General operating support is available for organizations specializing in home repair; program operating support is available for qualifying home-repair or food programs within multi-service organizations.
Geography: Target ZIP codes are 63104, 63109, 63110, 63111, 63116, 63118, 63123, 63125 and 63139. The nonprofit itself does not have to be physically located in those ZIP codes, but Charless funding must be used within the targeted geography.
Ineligible uses: The RFP excludes organizational endowments, research initiatives, capital improvements for the nonprofit organization, nonprofit or homeowner debt reduction, land or building purchases, repairs or modifications to commercial buildings, political campaigns and prohibited lobbying activity.
Match/cost share: The controlling 2026 RFP does not state a mandatory match or cost-share requirement. Partnerships that leverage other funding are viewed favorably.
Submission method: Proposals must be submitted through the St. Louis Community Foundation online grant portal. Applicants first complete an eligibility quiz; passing the quiz unlocks the application, and the eligibility quiz alone is not considered a proposal. Organizations may submit only one application.
Required financial information: Applicants must use the Foundation’s project/program budget template. General-operating requests require the most recent fiscal-year actual budget. Applicants also must upload the two most recent audits or, if audits are unavailable, the three most recent IRS Forms 990. Organizations filing Form 990-N must include the prior fiscal year’s actual budget. The application also requests applicant-controlled program, financial, fiscal-sponsorship and authorized-signatory information, which Atlas will not fabricate.
Atlas fit: Atlas Opportunity Score: 84/100. N9+ Fit: 0/100. QC Healthcare / other Dr. Miltie fit: 5/100 conditional. This is a legitimate senior-health and social-determinants opportunity, but the 2026 scope is specifically home repair/preservation and food insecurity. It does not establish an allowable connected clinical-device, telehealth or remote-exam procurement pathway, so Atlas will not force-fit N9+. Dr. Miltie, LLC is not a direct eligible applicant under the nonprofit/fiscal-sponsor structure.
Official sources: St. Louis Community Foundation Grants Management and the 2026 Charless Foundation Request for Proposal.