Cuts Could End Some Meals on Wheels Deliveries

Cummings said she also gets money from the state, county and local corporations. Sometimes, it’s about saving lives. “But because of Meals on Wheels, I get to have a balanced meal”, Smith said. “And we were able to call the fire department to get in”. And it’s been cut in 2013, 2014 and past year.

Actually, how the meal programs are funded is kind of complicated.

For the Meals on Wheels volunteers, the trip was nothing new.

Although that’s only a portion of total city spending on homeless programs, eliminating CDBG funds would likely cause additional distress for emergency shelters already hurting from the state’s budget woes while also undercutting the city’s efforts to prevent homelessness. If Congress cuts that funding, it would be “devastating”, he said.

President Trump’s proposed budget cuts might impact seniors who benefit from Meals on Wheels. In the aggregate, Bertolette says Meals on Wheels programs across the country rely on the HHS program for 35 percent of their funding.

Brice Chandler, a former community activist, said he’s not aware of Trump’s proposed budget cuts, but getting a meal everyday is very important.

“Since the recession, every year it’s been barely in the black”, Almeida says. Six of the eight showed that programs like Meals on Wheels improve the quality of people’s diet, increase their nutrient intake, and reduce their food insecurity and nutritional risk.

“Not yet”, Almeida says.

“We train the volunteers”.

And there’s another place that the Trump budget could indirectly hurt Meals on Wheels. His Budget Blueprint, which was released last week, slashes the Department of Health and Human Service’s budget by almost 18 percent.

Funding for the Senior Center’s home delivery nutrition program comes from the Older Americans Act of 1965, which was reauthorized for three years in 2016.

President Trump’s skinny budget may starve the Meals on Wheels program for 2.4 million low-income seniors.

Money for Meals on Wheels is a mix of state, federal, local funding and private donations.

The federal fiscal year ends in June; Veitch said Region 10 does not yet know what the funding for Fiscal Year 2018 will look like. “Right now, we don’t know much”. “I could say that”. They’re in dire need of volunteer drivers.

For some, it’s the only food and interaction they’ll have that day.

Even now, however, she’s considering alternatives.

But it’s not too early to begin disabusing those who choose to believe there is no outcome to stripping away these funding sources.

“Exercising. We do a lot of that, which I do”, Stephens said.

Arline Ahrens of North Charleston would have a hard time taking care of herself and her husband without the help of Meals on Wheels.