Ahead of strengthening Idalia, Osceola seniors get meals, safety check

Rafaela Cruz, 78, has endured her share of hurricanes.

After fleeing from Hurricane Maria’s devastation of her native Puerto Rico she moved into an apartment complex for seniors in Kissimmee where she hid from Hurricane Ian in her bathtub.

“When I started to see the rain, I said, what else am I going to do, so I went to bed,” Cruz said in Spanish of Ian. “I passed a lot of it asleep but then got woken up by alarms on my phone and text messages.”

Cruz said during the worst of Ian she received texts from her children telling her to be cautious of flood waters. Cruz hid in the bathtub of her apartment, where she lives alone. Eventually, she felt safe enough to leave her apartment, only to find the parking lot flooded and many cars damaged.

With the forecast showing Idalia becoming a hurricane headed toward Florida, Cruz said she is ready to hide in her bathtub once more, if necessary. She said she is in an even better spot after receiving a home safety inspection by Home Instead and food from Meals on Wheels and the Osceola Council on Aging.

The groups partnered to give seniors a hand, provide food and delete safety hazards on Monday.

Along with providing seniors meals and home inspections, Osceola Council on Aging will open as a shelter for those with special needs beginning at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, spokesperson Belinda Olivera said.

It is preparing its office space with enough cots, food and water for over 300 people with special needs, a process that takes at least 24 hours, Olivera said.

The Council on Aging only accepts residents who are registered with the health department as special needs in the shelter. While the current forecast doesn’t sound as bad as Ian, Olivera said she doesn’t expect to reach the 300-person capacity.

“So, if it gets kind of scary then I expect people to come in later,” Oliver said. “So right now, I’m thinking probably only 100 will show up.”

The Council canceled its Hurricane Preparedness Day for seniors event on Wednesday in anticipation of Idalia and will announce a new date soon, according to a news release.

Home Instead Orlando conducted home inspections, looking for avenues to mishaps.

“Typically, when you walk in, you’re looking for anything that’s going to possibly make someone go to the hospital, so you don’t want any falls to happen or mismanagement of medication,” said Debra Foscolo, co-owner of Home Instead Orlando.

Foscolo inspected two apartments looking for red flags for falling such as clutter on the floor or out-of-reach daily necessities. Inside Cruz’s apartment, Foscolo found a rug that needed to be taped to the floor and suggested a shower seat to ensure safety when bathing.

Foscolo also searched the apartments for canned foods, water bottles, flashlights and important phone numbers written down ahead of the expected hurricane.

“I think, along with the safety preparedness as far as the hurricane goes, I just want to make sure they will be OK,” Foscolo said. “I’m going to suggest what needs to be done but I’m going to follow up and make sure those suggestions are met even if they don’t have a lot of money.”

While Foscolo looked around the apartments, Wilda Belisle, senior vice president of nutrition at the Council on Aging, put a tray of milk, fruit and sandwiches into Cruz’s refrigerator.

During their visit, Belisle and Foscolo asked both seniors, Cruz and Teresa Mercedes, 66, if they had hurricane supplies and said they would work to get them the food and water they needed along with stocking up on medications.

“I don’t have any groceries. … I haven’t gone to the supermarket,” Mercedes told Belisle in Spanish.

Belisle said Meals on Wheels and the Council on Aging will get a box of prepared food and groceries for her and other seniors in the county who are in need. But it’s hard to meet the demand for seniors who need help with meals when the waiting list is roughly 275 people, Belisle said.

“We cannot get to too many because we don’t have the funding,” Belisle said. “So we have far more that we want to help but I’m just looking for the worst cases right now.”

Over 13% of Osceola County’s 422,545 population as of 2022 are over 65, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Belisle said the Meals on Wheels’ partnership with the Osceola Council on Aging has seen an increase in need from seniors since the COVID-19 pandemic began and now they serve anywhere between 400 and 500 seniors across Osceola County.

“Like I said, we have over 200 people on the waitlist. It’s sad,” Belisle said.

The program helps those over the age of 60 in Osceola County who have no one else to help cook meals or have a hard time preparing anything themselves, without restrictions on income, Belisle said.