Funding to the Meals on Wheels program would mean the loss of more than 200,000 meals per year.
Lunch time at the Pleasant View Senior Center in East Longmeadow. The state is considering cutting funding to meal programs in 2013.Marge Sheehan, of East Longmeadow, has lunch at the Pleasant View Senior Center on North Main Street every day at noon. For Sheehan, and many seniors, lunch is a chance to get out of the house, meet with friends and eat an inexpensive and healthy meal.
“It’s a lifeline,” said Sheehan, who has also volunteered to prepare the meals for the Meals on Wheels program. “It gives me a chance to socialize, eat a healthy meal and have a good time with friends.”
Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 includes a 24 percent cut to funds that pay for Meals on Wheels and congregate meal programs like the one at Pleasant View. Elder care service providers said the cuts would be devastating to the program.
“This is an important nutrition program, but also an important socialization program for seniors,” said Albert Norman, the executive director of Mass Home Care. “Whether they go to a congregate meal site or they get a meal delivered at home it is an opportunity to interact with other people.”
Norman said Patrick’s budget slashes the elder nutrition program by $1.5 million, from the fiscal year 2012 level of $6.3 million, to $4.8 million in fiscal year 2013.
“The loss of funding will cut nearly a quarter a million meals in 2013. Total meals served to seniors will plummet from 996,000 meals in 2012, to 754,000 meals in 2013, a loss of 242,000 meals,” he said.
Mass Home Care works with WestMass ElderCare, Greater Springfield Senior Services, Highland Valley Elder Services, Franklin County Home Care Corporation and Elder Services of Berkshire County, which in turn provide funds for meals at individual towns in Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire counties.
WestMass ElderCare Executive Director Priscilla L. Chalmers said her organization is responsible for meals in Belchertown, Chicopee, Granby, Holyoke, Ludlow, South Hadley and Ware. They also provide funds for Lorraine’s Kitchen in Chicopee and Kate’s Kitchen and the Salvation Army in Holyoke. In fiscal year 2011 they served 380,320 meals.
“We do get federal funding and some local donations, but we rely heavily on funds from the state,” Chalmers said. “This would be a devastating loss for us.”
Lunch time at the Pleasant View Senior Center in East Longmeadow.Chalmers said the program helps seniors stay in their homes for longer.
“By providing them a daily meal we help keep them out of nursing homes,” she said.
John Lutz, executive director of Highland Valley Elder Services, which serves twenty-four communities in Hampshire and Hampden county including Northampton, Hadley, Amherst, Southwick, Westfield and Easthampton, said they serve about 950 meals a day with 826 of those being home delivered and 124 at congregate meal sites. He said this is the first time in years that the state has considered cutting funding to the program.
“Seniors are very aware that there could be a cut and we are encouraging people to advocate for the program by calling their local legislatures and telling them how important the meals are,” he said.
Ruth Pessolano, Connie Garcia, Marilyn Cramblit and Kay Murphy meet for lunch every day at Pleasant View. They are aware of the possible funding cut and said they will write letters to their legislatures and promote the program any way they can.
“If it wasn’t for this program I don’t know where I would be,” Murphy said.
Garcia said the program gets her out of the house and into the senior center where she can then participate in a variety of activities throughout the day.
Local senior center directors like Carolyn Brennan, who runs Pleasant View, said the funds are essential to for operating the program.
Brennan said she budgets about $100,000 a year for the meals program. The money comes from federal and state grants as well as donations. They do not receive money from the town’s general fund, she said.
Brennan said she receives about $20,000 from the state to run the program.
“If we lost that it would be a huge blow to us. I don’t think we could supplement such a large amount,” she said.
Senior center’s like Pleasant View receive the grants from Greater Springfield Senior Services, one of the organizations Mass Home Care supports.
“We provide grants for East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Monson, West Springfield and Agawam,” said Elaine Massery, the executive director of Greater Springfield Senior Services.
Massery coordinates 20,000 meals per day through the congregate sites, but mostly through the Meals on Wheels program. The organization directly serves communities including Springfield, Wilbraham, Palmer, Wales, Holland, Brimfield and Hampden.
Massery said the program receives about $315,000 in state funds. With Patrick’s cut they would lose about $75,000 dollars.
“If we lose that money some things will have to change. We will have to look more closely at who is getting meals, we might require our drivers to take on more meal deliveries,” she said. “This has never been an issue before, so we will have to come up with some other options.”
Chalmers hopes an event put on by WestMass ElderCare in March will bring awareness to the importance of the program.
“On March 23 we will be organizing an event called March for Meals where we will invite elected officials to assist us in delivering meals to people. It will give them a chance to speak with seniors about the value of this program,” she said.
Brennan said she is working with the Meals on Wheels Association of America to raise awareness about the importance of the program.
“This is more than just a meal, it serves as a method of socialization and a well-being check,” Brennan said. “Often times our drivers will stop by to deliver a meal and find an elderly person on the floor or in need of medical help. For some seniors this is the only person they will talk to in day.”
Norman said he will be going to Beacon Hill to defend the program before the Senate and the House of Representatives make a decision on whether to cut funding.
“We are ready to fight for this program,” he said.