Beyond the necessity of nourishment, food is associated with the earliest memories of comfort, connection, and of socialization with others.
When obtaining or preparing meals becomes challenging due to physical limitations, the loss of a partner, or to distance from family, many older Wisconsin residents rely on available programs to get much-needed nutrition as well as social connections.
The Wisconsin Elderly Nutrition program encompasses over 500 congregate (community) meal sites across the state, and includes the home-delivered meal program, available to those clients who are homebound for a variety of reasons.
Lori Reid, Director of ADRC (Aging and Disability Resource Center) for Southwest Wisconsin in Grant County cites 2018 data that support the importance of the contact of volunteers with the homebound clients. Reid states, “More than 1 in 3 [home-delivered meal clients] said that the meal delivery volunteer was the only person they would see on most days.”
“More than 1 in 3 [home-delivered meal clients] said that the meal delivery volunteer was the only person they would see on most days.”
-Lori Reid, ADRC Director, Grant County, Wisconsin
“One of the main challenges is that the levels [of federal funding] have not been changed in a number of years, which has made us more reliant on county levy funds to continue.”
-Roby Fuller, ADRC Director, Eagle Country-Crawford County, Wisconsin
Funding an ongoing concern
The meal program is funded in part by the Older Americans Act, a federal program which assists with the costs of nutrition programs for older clients.
“One of the main challenges,” states Roby Fuller, “is that the levels [of federal funding] have not been changed in a number of years, which has made us more reliant on county levy funds to continue.” Fuller is the Director of ADRC of Eagle Country-Crawford County, in the Prairie du Chien office.
She states, “We actually get more congregate meal site funding. They do allow us to transfer a certain amount [to the home-delivered program]. However, any carryouts are considered home-delivered, which depletes that fund.”
Fuller adds, “We are very fortunate in Crawford County – the Board of Supervisors has been very supportive.”
In Grant County, Reid agrees, stating, “Our county is really good at proving their support, or we wouldn’t be able to serve as many as we do.”
Need for meals continues to grow
Residents aged 60 and older are eligible for the nutrition program, regardless of income level. For those wishing to have meals delivered to their homes, Reid states, “An assessment is done to establish that the applicant is homebound to determine the need for home-delivered meals. The assessment also helps point the applicant to other programs they may need.”
Like many aspects of daily life, county nutrition programs felt the impact of Covid-19.
Fuller states, “Our meal program for home delivered meals increased greatly during the start of COVID through 2021. We are now seeing, however, many individuals dining in again in order to get that socialization.”
In Grant County, ADRC oversees 10 congregate meal sites throughout the county, and the Meals on Wheels program for home-delivered meals. Reid states, “[When the pandemic began] we home-delivered to everyone. We thought it would be for two weeks, and here we are, two years later. Pre-pandemic, the trend was moving toward more home-delivered meals, and less congregate meals, and I think that trend will continue.”
Both directors see the issue as multi-faceted.
“Part of it,” shares Reid, “is that people have gotten used to the convenience of home-delivered meals,” after the onset of Covid, noting that many of the Grant County meal sites had yet to open permanently, though they were tentatively set to do that in April 2022.
The reasons run much deeper, however. Fuller cites population changes as a main cause.
“The trend of the younger population decreasing is a significant challenge – which means the lack of caregivers in the community. We don’t have [enough] younger people to take care of the older people.”
Fuller adds that the official numbers support their observations. “In the last census, of the total population 30% were aged 60 and older in Crawford County. By 2040, that number is projected to be 60%.”
Pointing out data from just a few years ago, Reid states, “Surveys have shown that people have indicated they would skip a meal if they didn’t have the service. In 2018, almost half of the home-delivered clients and 24% of congregate meal diners said they would not have had at least one hot or freshly prepared meal each day. Home-delivered meal clients indicated that there would have been one in five days when they would not have gotten enough to eat.”
Looking to the future
As with many organizations that rely on volunteers, finding enough people to help can often be tough.
“In normal times, we did pretty well with volunteers,” says Reid. “Since the pandemic began, finding enough volunteers has been a challenge. We have had our meal site manager and staff deliver over the last two years, and we still have some areas where it’s been difficult to get volunteers. We’re always looking.”
Weather-related events present other challenges as well, as Reid cites a recent ice storm. Clients are surveyed and for those that meal cancellation would mean a hardship, arrangements are made to get a couple of shelf-stable meals for them.
The importance of the volunteers that make contact with the clients is crucial. Says Fuller, “One of our drivers covers 101 miles per day, and the drivers go out to very rural and desolate areas. We are serving some of the most elderly and vulnerable. For many people, that’s the only person they see. It’s more than food – it’s a check-in.”