Project Report
| Jan 3, 2014
Increased Senior Poverty Means More Meal Requests
By Julie Piper Finley | Director of Marketing & Communications
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We continue to serve an increasing number of meals to homebound seniors, both on weekends and weekdays. Recent client surveys show that 25% of the homebound seniors we serve live at or below poverty. For many of them, the meals we provide are their only food on the weekends. Our meals are not a luxury. They are often what allow frail, homebound seniors to remain independent and living in their own homes. And the need is growing. We have served 27% more meals between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31, 2013 than in the same time period in 2012. We annually plan for a growth in meals betwen 3% and 5%, so this jump in service requests is unprecedented.
And we are serving "younger" seniors. Our largest area of growth is for those seniors between the ages of 60 and 69. This is because of two main causes: more baby boomers are turning 60 each day and those that are have not prepared physcially or financially for retirement. They are turning to Meals on Wheels People to help supplement small, fixed incomes.
Our vision is that no senior will go hungry or experience social isolation. For more than 44 years, Meals on Wheels People has provided hot meals to every senior who requests them. Unlike 80% of the senior nutrition programs in this country, we have no waiting list for meals. We depend on donors like those who give throughj GlobalGiving to help us maintain that reputation. Thank you for caring about seniors in our community.
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Oct 2, 2013
More Seniors Than Ever Live Below Poverty
By Julie Piper Finley | Director of Marketing & Communications
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The Weekend Meal Program for Seniors at the Elm Court Center in downtown Portland is an ongoing program. Meals on Wheels People serves and delivers 5,000 meals every weekday to seniors in three counties through 34 neighborhood dining rooms and Meals on Wheels service. We are open at only one location on weekends -- Elm Court. This location serves some of our most financially vulnerable seniors. Many of them live in small apartments or residential hotels without cooking facilities. If not for our meal program, they would have no access to fresh food on weekends.
Between July 1 and Sept. 15, 2013, we served 1,122 meals to seniors on the weekends. That conpares to 866 meals served in the same time period the previous year. Our annual client surveys indicate that more seniors than ever before are living at or below poverty. In 2009, the poverty rate among seniors was just 9%. In 2013, that number in Multnomah County (where our Elm Court Center operates) had jumped to 25%. Seniors are looking to Meals on Wheels People for fresh, nutritious meals they cannot provide for themselves on their limited incomes. The Elm Court Center also provides a safe gathering place for seniors, many of whom live alone.
The cost of a senior meal is just $3.95. We are very grateful to the Global Giving donors for their generous support of senior nutrition.
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Jul 2, 2013
Increased Need for Senior Weekend Meals
By Julie Piper Finley | Director of Marketing & Communications
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Thank you for your continued support of senior meals on weekends. Our Weekend Meal Program at the Elm Court Center in downtown Portland is one of our ongoing projects. Most of the seniors who access this program live below poverty. Most live alone. And the majority do not have access to cooking facilities. They dine at our Elm Court Center Monday through Friday and receive a hot, nutritious lunch. And, thanks to donations from organizations such as Global Giving, we are able to provide these seniors with a hot meal on the weekends as well. If we were not there with a meal, these seniors would have to survive from Friday noon to Monday noon with no food.
Between April 1 and June 30, 2013, we served 2,533 weekend meals at the Elm Court Center. That compares to just 1,738 meals served during the same time period in 2012. We have recently completed our annual client survey and learned that 25% of those we serve live below poverty. In addition to weekend meals, 35% of those surveyed said they would also like to receive an evening meal. We are looking into funding options to make this a possibility.
It takes just $3.95 to provide a hot meal for a senior. We are deeply appreciative of the generosity of GlobalGiving donors and your partnership in our vision that no senior will go hungry or experience social isolation.
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