The Trump administration's effort to cut federal spending has raised alarms at Meals on Wheels America, which says that funding through the Older Americans Act (OAA) was already not keeping pace with the rapid growth in the senior population — and with costs that rose dramatically in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meals on Wheels America today supports more than 5,000 community-based programs that prepare and deliver over a million meals annually to senior and disabled Americans. Its network serves virtually every community in America, thanks to the more than 2 million staff and volunteers, who also make friendly visits and safety checks that brighten the days of our most isolated citizens.
The original Meals on Wheels, in fact, began in England during World War II, after Women's Voluntary Service organizer Lady Anguin, whose letter to the Welwyn Times urged the creation of some sort of “meals on wheels” service for the aged and infirm whose able-bodied family members and neighbors were fighting the Germans. By 1962, the British program was serving 4 million meals in 790 areas.
America's first Meals on Wheels program was started in Baltimore in 1960. The fledgling program, modeled after the British Meals on Wheels, served homebound clients with only volunteer help.
Although the American Meals on Wheels began small, serving homebound clients with the help of a handful of volunteers, later, Meals on Wheels began providing critically important in-person visits to innumerable homebound seniors and disabled individuals who otherwise would be left alone and isolated.
Many volunteers developed deep friendships during their tenure with Meals on Wheels, which enriched both their lives and the lives of those to whom they delivered food and fellowship. The daily deliveries also enabled Meals on Wheels volunteers to conduct safety checks when a client failed to answer the door and to call for medical assistance if needed.
And in a world in which family members are widely scattered, and at a time in life when old friends may not be around, Meals on Wheels keeps many alive and in contact with the outside world.
Congress would go on to enact the Older Americans Act (OAA) in 1965 in large part in response to concerns about a lack of federally funded community social services for older Americans. The law established authority for grants to states for community planning and social services, research and development projects and personnel training in the field of aging.
Its purview also includes community service employment for low-income older Americans; training, research, and demonstration activities; and vulnerable elder rights protection activities.
The law has been renewed several times, and a bipartisan group within the Senate indeed recently reintroduced it.
While older Americans may receive services under certain other federal programs, the OAA has been the major vehicle for organizing and delivering social and nutrition services to the elderly and their caregivers. Its network comprises 56 state agencies and 618 area agencies on aging, nearly 20,000 service providers, 281 tribal organizations, and a Native Hawaiian organization.
In terms of cost-effectiveness to the American taxpayer, the Meals on Wheels public-private partnership itself is designed to keep seniors healthy and independent in their own homes — and out of costly healthcare facilities. The cost for serving a senior Meals on Wheels for an entire year is about the same as one day in the hospital, or 10 days in a nursing home.
Meals on Wheels has thus rightly expressed concern over the layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services, notably staff overseeing major federal aging, disability and anti-poverty programs. This is compounded by the scenario that funding for the Older Americans Act (OAA) simply cannot compete with rapidly escalating demand from a growing population in need.
What's ultimately clear is that fixed-income disabled and senior citizens are the least likely to benefit whatsoever from the policy changes underway. Over 17%, or 58 million, Americans today are over age 65, a number that rose by 34% in the decade ending in 2022.
Trump administration officials may indeed have the answers to all of these concerns. But, until they deliver the goods to ensure that the elderly and disabled are not being left behind by certain administration initiatives, the concerns of the elderly — and of those dedicated to keeping them independent, cared for, and without fear — will remain.
Duggan Flanakin worked for Barry Goldwater, and has written for the Washington Free Press, and Christian Restoration Ministries. He's also edited environmental policy newsletters. A senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, he is also a policy analyst for CFACT (Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow). Additionally, Mr. Flanakin is a poet, music promoter, and Sunday school teacher. Read Flanakin's reports — More Here.