Operation Pathways has secured a 2026 Thome Aging Well Grant to launch its Strengthening Food Access for Older Adults initiative in Baltimore, Maryland. The organization is among 24 nonprofit groups in Maryland and Michigan collectively receiving $3.8 million to help lower-income older adults remain safely and independently in their homes while aging with dignity.

A subsidiary of The NHP Foundation, Operation Pathways delivers on-site resident services at 33 affordable housing communities across 10 states and the District of Columbia. Its programs are designed to support seniors, families, and individuals in achieving greater stability, health, and long-term well-being.

For older residents, these on-site services play a vital role in helping them age in place by reducing social isolation, strengthening housing stability, and connecting them with essential resources. In Maryland alone, more than 45,000 older adults experience food insecurity due to fixed incomes, increasing living expenses, limited access to grocery stores, and transportation barriers.

Through the new grant, Resident Services Coordinators at The Bolton North Apartments and The Terraces at Park Heights in Baltimore will expand initiatives aimed at improving food access for seniors. Planned efforts include enhanced enrollment and renewal assistance for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), expanded food pantry services and home-delivered food boxes, and community-led shared meals that encourage social engagement among residents.

Established in 2022 by Enterprise Community Partners with support from the Edward N. and Della L. Thome Memorial Foundation, administered by Bank of America as trustee, the Thome Aging Well program follows a trust-based philanthropy model. This approach empowers local organizations to respond quickly and effectively to the specific needs of the communities they serve.

Stephany De Scisciolo, Enterprise's Vice President of Impact, Evaluation and Population Health, emphasized that the funding provides community organizations with the flexibility to tailor solutions to local challenges. She noted that entrusting resources to experienced, community-based partners helps maximize the program's impact by enabling older adults to continue living safely and comfortably in the neighborhoods they call home.

Since its inception, the Thome Aging Well initiative has distributed more than $23 million to 66 community, government, and tribal organizations. The program has benefited over 14,000 older adults through home modifications that support aging in place, workforce development and training, preventive health services, food access and delivery programs, and a broad range of additional support services.

Corporate citizenship is experiencing its most significant evolution in more than ten years. Today, it’s no longer sufficient for organizations to simply operate social impact initiatives. Companies are now expected to prove that their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts are purposeful, tightly aligned with business priorities, focused on measurable outcomes, and genuinely embedded into everyday operations.

Insights from the Benevity Impact Labs 2025 State of Corporate Purpose Report—which analyzed proprietary data from the giving, volunteering, and grantmaking programs of over 1,000 global companies—show that nearly two-thirds of organizations meaningfully recalibrated their purpose strategies in the past year. Heightened stakeholder expectations, increasingly polarized social conversations, regulatory uncertainty, and intensifying competition for talent are all driving this shift. Together, these forces shape both the risks and opportunities organizations must address as they plan their CSR and ESG strategies for 2026.
The 2025 findings highlight several key takeaways for senior leaders and impact practitioners as they look ahead.

Navigating the new risk landscape: Finding balance between restraint and resolve
As purpose strategies become more sophisticated and regulatory scrutiny grows, companies are confronting a widening disconnect between executive caution and employee activism.

The data illustrates this tension clearly: 52% of leaders anticipate that CEOs will reduce public commentary on divisive social issues, while 76% expect employee-led advocacy to increase in the coming year. Although leadership silence may be intended to limit external risk, it can inadvertently create internal brand challenges. When organizations refrain from taking positions, employees often step in—launching grassroots initiatives without formal oversight, guidance, or compliance support.

As a result, the emphasis must move away from public statements and toward operational integrity—how impact work is executed internally and reflected externally. Benevity’s data shows CSR teams collaborating more closely than ever with other functions, particularly executive leadership, legal, HR, and communications, with the steepest growth occurring in communications partnerships.

Deep integration across these teams is now essential to ensure consistent, credible storytelling around impact results and organizational values—rather than reactive messaging tied to social or political flashpoints. This alignment is especially critical given how quickly both employees and consumers have responded to perceived inaction over the past year.

As Andrew Jones, Principal Researcher at The Conference Board’s Governance & Sustainability Center, noted on the Speaking of Purpose podcast, many leaders underestimate expectations: silence on contentious topics may be interpreted not as neutrality, but as avoidance—particularly by employees, younger consumers, and investors.

Employee-driven priorities: Building resilience through participation
According to SHRM’s 2025 Talent Trends report, hiring challenges remain acute, with 69% of organizations struggling to fill permanent roles. In this environment, purpose programs have become a vital lever for workforce stability and retention. Benevity’s data confirms a strong correlation between employee participation in purpose initiatives and improved retention—especially among newer employees.

Key insights include:

The resurgence of volunteering: Strengthening engagement and well-being
Volunteer programs are increasingly recognized as a cornerstone of organizational resilience, with 94% of companies affirming their positive impact. Notably, volunteering stands out as the only workplace initiative—among 90 evaluated—that demonstrated a positive effect on employee well-being and sense of belonging.

With the United Nations designating 2026 as the International Year of Volunteering, organizations have a timely opportunity to expand their efforts. Benevity data indicates that volunteering participation has grown steadily since post-pandemic reopening and is projected to rise by approximately 11% in 2025. Companies are shifting toward more intentional, high-impact formats, including skills-based, team-based, and virtual volunteering—approaches well-suited to hybrid and remote work environments.

Refining grantmaking strategies: Emphasizing trust and capacity
Grantmaking practices are also adapting to meet evolving needs. Across the ecosystem, companies are placing greater emphasis on flexibility, trust, and long-term capacity building.
Notable trends include:

Despite progress, the Benevity Grants Confidence Gap Report reveals a persistent disconnect: while 74% of grantmakers follow best practices, only 51% believe they are doing so effectively. Bridging this gap requires stronger trust-based approaches, clearer communication, and closer alignment with stakeholder expectations.

Preparing for 2026: A strategic roadmap
To successfully navigate this period of transformation, corporate citizenship leaders should prioritize data-driven decision-making anchored in accountability and engagement.
Key strategic actions include:

The transformation of corporate citizenship into a fully integrated, enterprise-wide strategy is now complete. In 2026 and beyond, the organizations that lead will be those that harness real-time data to activate purpose at work—delivering authentic, employee-driven programs that align with core values, strengthen communities, engage stakeholders, and contribute meaningfully to business performance. These companies won’t just succeed in the near term; they will position themselves to thrive well beyond 2026.