Latest news with #MealsonWheelsAmerica
The Guardian
28-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
How Meals on Wheels cuts endanger US seniors: ‘life and death implications'
The Trump administration's slashes to the Department of Health and Human Services is threatening Meals on Wheels, the popular program dedicated to combatting senior hunger and isolation. Despite decades of bipartisan support, Meals on Wheels now faces attacks from Republicans whose budget blueprint paves the way for deep cuts to nutrition and other social safety-net programs as a way to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. It's a move anti-hunger advocates and policy experts warn could have disastrous ramifications for the millions of older Americans who rely on the program to eat each day. 'It's not hyperbolic to say that we're going to be leaving people hungry and that this literally has life and death implications,' said Nicole Jorwic, the chief of advocacy and campaigns at Caring Across Generations, a non-profit that advocates for aging Americans, disabled people and their caregivers. 'This is not just about a nice-to-have program. These programs are necessities in the lives of seniors all over this country.' While it is still unknown exactly what will be slashed, the blueprint sets the stage for the potential elimination of the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), a key source of funding for local Meals on Wheels programs in 37 states, and serious cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) and Medicaid, which would increase food insecurity and hardship and skyrocket demand for Meals on Wheels services. The entire staff who oversaw SSBG have already been fired, according to reports. If Congress takes away SSBG funding and weakens other programs, seniors who rely on in-home deliveries or meals in community and senior centers to survive would receive less help as Meals on Wheels community providers would be forced to reduce services, add people to waitlists or turn seniors facing hunger away altogether. Some program operators who are already making tough choices about who to serve due to strained budgets and rising need have said it feels as though they are 'playing God'. 'We're talking about lives here so it's worrisome to me,' said Ellie Hollander, the president and CEO of Meals on Wheels America. 'Some of our programs are already operating on razor-thin budgets and are pulling from their reserves. [If funding goes away], it could result in some programs having to close their doors.' In the US one in four Americans is over the age of 60 and nearly 13 million seniors are threatened by or experience hunger. Meals on Wheels America, a network of 5,000 community-based programs that feeds more than 2 million older Americans each year, has been a successful public-private partnership for more than 50 years. The Urban Institute estimates that the number of seniors in the US will more than double over the next 40 years. The Older Americans Act (OAA) nutrition program, which supports the health and well-being of seniors via nutrition services, is the network's primary source of federal funding, covering 37% of what it takes to serve more than 250m meals each year. The exact mix of local, state, federal and private funding of Meals on Wheels' thousands of on-the-ground community programs varies from provider to provider. Under the orders of the Elon Musk-led unofficial 'department of government efficiency' (Doge) and Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, 20,000 people at HHS have lost their jobs in recent weeks, including at least 40% of the staff at the Administration for Community Living, which coordinates federal policy on aging and disability. Since many of those staffers helped fulfill critical functions to serving older Americans through the OAA, some Meals on Wheels programs are worried about funding disbursements, reporting data and the loss of institutional knowledge and expertise. HHS has said it will reorganize the ACL into other HHS agencies, although how that would happen is unclear. The co-chairs of the Disability and Aging Collaborative, composed of 62 member organizations that focus in part on aging and disability, said in a recent statement: 'This disruptive change threatens to increase rates of institutionalization, homelessness and long-lasting economic hardships.' Since experiencing multiple strokes that left her cognitively impaired and at risk for falls, Dierdre Mayes has relied on Meals on Wheels Yolo County to deliver meals that are the 64-year-old's primary source of nutrition. 'I'm really thriving off of the meals I get,' said Mayes, a Woodland, California, resident who also receives $20 a month in food stamps, which she uses to purchase cases of water. 'The best part about it is I don't have to go anywhere to get them.' For Mayes and other homebound older Americans, the program is a lifeline. The uncertainty around Meals on Wheels' future is causing stress for seniors who are worried about how federal cuts, layoffs and tariffs will impact their daily deliveries. The non-profit FeedMore WNY, which serves homebound older adults in New York's Eerie and Niagara counties, said they've been hearing from fearful older clients as word of other recent cuts circulated in the news. Catherine Shick, the public relations manager for FeedMore WNY, said they served 4,775 unique Meals on Wheels clients last year and that demand for their feeding programs increased by 16% from 2023 to 2024, a trend they expect to continue. 'Any cut to any funding has a direct impact on the individuals who rely on us for food assistance and any cuts are coming at a time when we know that food insecurity is on the rise,' she said. 'We need the continued support of all levels of government, as well as the community, to be able to fulfill our mission.' In addition to delivering healthy, nutritious food, Meals on Wheels drivers, who are primarily volunteers, provide a host of other valuable services: they can look for signs of cognitive or other health changes. They can also address safety hazards in the home or provide pet support services, as well as offer crucial social connections since drivers are often the only person a senior may see in a given day or week. Deliveries have been shown to help keep seniors healthy and in their own homes and communities and out of costly institutional settings. Republicans in the House and Senate have said their goal is to reduce federal spending, but experts say cutting programs that help fund organizations such as Meals on Wheels would instead increase federal spending for healthcare and long-term care expenses for older Americans. 'If people can't stay in their own homes, they're going to be 'high flyers' in hospitals and admitted prematurely into nursing homes,' said Hollander, 'all of which cost taxpayers billions of dollars annually versus providing Meals on Wheels for one year to a senior for the same cost of being in the hospital for one day or 10 days in a nursing home.' Experts agree that even before the cuts, Meals on Wheels America has been underfunded. Advocates and researchers say OAA hasn't kept up with the rapid growth of the senior population, rising food costs or inflation. One in three local programs already have waiting lists with many programs already feeling stretched to their limits. For more than 60% of Meals on Wheels providers across the country, federal funding represents half or more of their total revenue, underscoring the serious damage that could be done if cuts or policy changes are made in any capacity. 'It feels like a continuous slew of attacks on the programs that seniors rely on to be safe, independent and healthy in their own homes,' said Jorwic of Caring Across Generations. 'Everything from cuts to Meals on Wheels to cuts to Medicaid, all these things that are being proposed and actively worked on being implemented, are a real threat to the security of aging Americans.'
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Silver Key Senior Services joins campaign to help seniors
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Silver Key Senior Services announced it is partnering with Meals on Wheels America for a campaign to help provide meals to seniors in need. Silver Key said that for too long, the pressing needs of seniors have been underfunded and ignored, leaving millions nationwide waiting for nutritious meals and moments of connection. Silver Key said that even though Meals on Wheels has been proven to be the most effective solution, community providers need help as well, and they can't wait any longer. 'Silver Key proudly delivers nearly 30,000 hot, nutritious meals each year to seniors who need them most, but rising costs make it increasingly difficult to keep up with demand. We are grateful for the support we've received, but to ensure every senior in need receives this vital lifeline of nutritious meals and social connection, we need additional funding and volunteers. We can't do this alone,' said Jason DeaBueno, CEO of Silver Key Senior Services. According to Silver Key, federal funding has not kept pace with either the growing senior population or rising costs, and only 1% of philanthropic donations in the U.S. go toward senior causes. Local Meals on Wheels providers like Silver Key are eager to do more but need more resources. 'Across the country, local Meals on Wheels providers are working tirelessly to deliver seniors nutritious meals and moments of connection, but they could be reaching even more seniors and doing even more for them if they had additional resources,' said Ellie Hollander, President and CEO of Meals on Wheels America. 'That's why Meals on Wheels America launched a bold plan to End the Wait and ultimately ensure all seniors have access to the life-saving services they need to live nourished lives with independence and dignity.' More information on the End the Wait campaign and how to help Silver Key can be found on Silver Key's website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Donald Trump's Budget Pause Causes Concern At Meals On Wheels; Official Says Not To Worry
WASHINGTON – The Donald Trump administration's Monday night announcement that it would pause all federal grants has caused concern among nonprofit organizations that administer senior nutrition programs like Meals on Wheels. The order from the Office of Management and Budget said federal agencies should pause federal 'financial assistance' grants and review whether they further things like 'woke gender ideology' or DEI initiatives fostering diversity, equity and inclusion. The federal government offers a wide range of grants to states and local charitable organizations that could be affected by the order. Meals on Wheels America, a member organization for thousands of local affiliates that deliver food to seniors in their homes, said the order could affect operations. 'If in fact this order includes the Older Americans Act, this would presumably halt service to millions of vulnerable seniors who have no other means of purchasing or preparing meals,' Jenny Young, a spokeswoman for Meals on Wheels America, said in an email. A senior administration official insisted Meals on Wheels recipients have nothing to fear: 'No benefits to individuals are affected by this,' the official told HuffPost, adding that the pause could be as short as a day if federal agencies determine the funding aligns with the president's priorities. A footnote in the memo says the term 'financial assistance' does not include 'assistance provided directly to individuals,' which the administration said meant programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would not be affected. But Meals on Wheels is different. Federal grants under the Older Americans Act flow through state agencies and then to roughly 5,0000 community-based senior nutrition providers, which typically work with volunteers to deliver hot meals to people's homes. 'So funding does not go directly to the individual recipient,' Young said. Meals on Wheels America has said federal funding only covers about 35% of the million meals a day its member organizations deliver, with the rest covered by donations. But since nonprofit organizations are reimbursed after the fact, a pause in funding has created uncertainty for some of those local groups. 'And the uncertainty right now is creating chaos for local Meals on Wheels providers not knowing whether they should be serving meals today,' Young said. 'Which unfortunately means seniors will panic not knowing where their next meals will come from.'
