After spike in demand during pandemic, need for Meals on Wheels continues
Oct. 7—NEW LONDON — Resident Rosa Manso smiled brightly on Wednesday as Eugene Theroux, director of nutrition services for Thames Valley Council on Community Action, handed her a Meals on Wheels delivery outside her home.
"Thank you so much," she said on the sunny early afternoon.
Manso said she depends on the Meals on Wheels program, particularly as her electricity bills and the cost of oil are so high, her mortgage just increased another $100, and her husband is in a convalescent home.
"This is like a lifesaver," she said.
Manso is among the residents who are 60 years or older and homebound, in eastern Connecticut that receive nutritious meals ― and company ― through the program run through TVCCA, said Theroux.
While demand for the meal deliveries spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, TVCCA said the need for the meals continues to remain steady due to factors that include increased food prices or more people realizing the benefits of the meal and a wellness check-in.
Theroux said seniors not only receive a meal, but also an opportunity to socialize with the volunteer or staff member dropping off their meal, as well as potentially be connected to services, Theroux said. The program aims to combat social isolation and help seniors stay in their homes as long as possible.
Theroux, who was filling in for a staff driver on vacation on Wednesday, visited nearly 20 seniors on a New London route. At each house, apartment or inn, he got out of the Meals on Wheels truck to bring the delivery, chatted with the senior and called to check on them if they did not come to the door right away.
Senior David Sousa, who has been receiving Meals on Wheels for the past five or six years, said the meals help him get through financial difficulties because the increased price of food.
Senior Margaret Warnken was taking a walk near her home with her caregiver, Zenaida Valentin, when Theroux stopped by to drop off the meal and chat.
Warnken said she signed up for the meal delivery after she had a stroke and thought it would be a good idea to have another set of eyes looking after her.
"The food is good but the comfort that someone's looking after you is better," she said.
Amanda McAllister came to the door on Wednesday morning to pick up a meal for her mother because it's hard for her mother to walk to the door. McAllister said the meals are great, and her mother tells her all the time how much she values the Meals on Wheels and loves the considerate staff.
Julian Gills also picked up the delivery for his mother: "They always bring fresh and great food," he said. "They're always nice. They're very respectful."
He said the community should be proud that people are still coming around and caring for seniors.
Continuing demand
TVCCA also offers a meal program at senior centers across the region, and when centers closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for Meals on Wheels grew, Theroux said.
He said the demand for Meals on Wheels, while not quite as high as during the pandemic, remains steady. The demand for meals at senior centers is as strong as it was before the pandemic.
In fiscal year 2022-23, Meals on Wheels reached 1,385 seniors in eastern Connecticut and delivered 210,295 meals, according to Theroux. The congregate meals served in senior centers across the region reached 1,780 seniors, for a total of 58,837 meals served.
Demand for Meals on Wheels also tends to pick up in the colder months as more seniors stay at home.
TVCCA CEO Deborah Monahan said over the years, the demand for Meals on Wheels has grown as more seniors want to remain in their homes for as long as they can. The Meals on Wheels program is among the support services that can help them do that.
She said a study done by Meals on Wheels America shows that among the people receiving a daily meal, 36% report being less socially isolated.
Monahan said the benefits, including the ability to stay at home, less hospitalization, less social isolation, reduced malnutrition and reduced nursing home costs, are immense.
"Meals on Wheels is so much more than a meal in so many ways, and it really does positively impact the senior who's receiving the meal," she said.
Volunteers, funding needed
Meals on Wheels has 42 delivery routes throughout eastern Connecticut.
While the program is fully staffed with paid drivers, the program is looking for volunteers to help out with eight routes, which are in New London; Groton; Oakdale and Salem; Moosup, Sterling and Central Village; Brooklyn; Killingly; and Willimantic and Coventry, Theroux said.
He said the program scrambles to fill volunteer shortages in house, and will always deliver meals. He said Meals on Wheels finds many of its volunteers through TVCCA's Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, or RSVP, in which people 55 or older sign up to give back.
Currently, there are about 250 volunteers that help with the meal programs at 34 senior centers in eastern Connecticut and with Meals on Wheels. But Monahan said volunteers are always needed as their numbers have leveled off as people returned to work after the pandemic.
At the New London Senior Center on Wednesday morning, volunteers and staff heated up and packed meals prepared at a Bozrah commissary. Meals on Wheels staff prepare and package all the meals, such as an omelet with sides of sweet potato tots and peas and onions, and pork stir fry with jasmine rice and vegetables, at the commissary, said Theroux.
In addition to hot meal delivery, Meals on Wheels also offers "frozen drops" of five frozen meals along with milk, bread or fruit that are delivered on one day to a senior. Theroux said this helps accommodate the additional people that signed up since the pandemic. The seniors still receive five meals a week, but meals are delivered all at once, rather than daily.
Theroux said ideally, Meals on Wheels wants to deliver hot meals to clients five days a week, but because of budgets and different scenarios, including what the town is able to fund, the deliveries may be less frequent in some areas.
The state receives federal funding from the Older Americans Act to support Meals on Wheels, and in the region, the funding is distributed by local agency Senior Resources, Theroux said. The program also relies on grants, funding from municipalities and contributions from seniors.
He said the federal funding ― at about $1.8 million per year for Meals on Wheels and the senior center cafe program ― has remained level since 2019, but the cost of running the program, including the price of food, fuel, labor costs and vehicle repairs, have risen.
He added that philanthropic contributions and funding from municipalities, who have received COVID-19 relief funds under the American Rescue Plan Act, have increased, but the program is looking ahead as some of that funding will soon end as the ARPA program sunsets.
Theroux said more funding would help the program reach more seniors. He said the need for meals has increased and is going to keep increasing.
