Elm Court Center Meals

While our service is continuing at the Elm Court Center in downtown Portland, our delivery method has changed dramatically since mid-March. We closed the center for dining on March 13 and moved as many as possible onto Meals on Wheels home delivery routes. Because we serve a significant number of homeless people at this location, we also set up a meal pick-up window where seniors could come daily to pick-up a hot meal. In addition, the number of requests for home delivery skyrocketed during the last two weeks of March and into April -- up nearly 400% in the organization overall. Between Jan. 15 and Apr. 30, 2020 we served and delivered 38,650 meals to 917 individuals. This represents an increase of nearly 44% over the same time period one year ago.

Because so many seniors are sheltering in place and not leaving their homes, few have access to fresh food or groceries. We have increased the number of meals delivered from 5 per week to 7 per week per person. Meals are delivered only once per week, rather than daily, using a no-contact meal delivery system. Meals are placed in bags and then left on a doorknob or on the front porch. The volunteer then rings the bell and steps back six to 10 feet. This way we can still see each person, but limit exposure for both volunteers and seniors. We are baking protein bars in our Central Kitchen and delivering these along with each meal. Rather than a daily salad pack, we are delivering loaves of bread, quarts of milk and bags of whole fruit. We have also been able to deliver additional food items that have been donated, including hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, fresh mango slices, peanut butter and toilet paper. 

Half of our service is checking in on hombeound seniors to ensure their welfare. Because delveries are made just once a week, rather than daily, our staff make wellness calls several times each week to all homebound participants. Those who are interested are invited to sign up for a Friendly Chat session. Volunteers will call those who are interested and just talk with them on the phone for 30 minutes or so. Calls are simply chatty -- we discourage discussions about religion, politics or medical conditions. More than 500 people have signed up for this service.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been especially hard on older adults, who are most at risk for complicatoins from the virus. While parts of the country are beginning to open up and some states and businesses are returning to "normal", we anticipate that older adults will continue to stay at home through the summer and potentially into the fall. We do not see an end to our current delivery model for the foreseeable future. We are extrememly grateful to GlobalGiving donors for helping us continue to ensure that no senior will go hungry or experience social isolation!