Government Cuts Impact IM’s Meals on Wheels Program

 For more than 44 years, Interfaith Ministries’ Meals on Wheels for Greater Houston has been delivering meals to homebound seniors, last year serving on average 4,500 seniors each day. IM's program received $500,000 less in funding this year due to the recent sequester and other government cuts. Because of this, IM’s Meals on Wheels has reduced the number of seniors served to 4,200 through natural attrition.  IM also has a waitlist of approximately 700 seniors. While we are serving fewer seniors, we are are fortunate to not have to take any senior off our program. We are only adding seniors at a slower rate.

Across the country, Meals on Wheels programs are slashing staff, reducing the number of meals delivered or even shutting their doors. According to March 1 estimates from Meals on Wheels Association of America, the sequester will result in a national average of 5.6 percent decrease in Meals on Wheels programs, threatening nearly 75,000 seniors across the country. 

These cuts come at a difficult time for organizations serving seniors as the population is aging at an unprecedented rate. Baby boomers are turning 65 at a rate of 10,000 per day or approximately 3.7 million per year. IM has already begun to experience this boom as the number of inquiry calls doubled  last year.

IM is working on many fronts to cut costs and increase fundraising to ensure that no senior goes hungry. IM has joined forces with the Meals on Wheels Association of America to restore pre-sequester funding levels for the Older Americans Act (OAA) Nutrition Program. Several weeks ago, the Senate Committee on Appropriations’ passed a bill that, if enacted into law, would achieve this goal. Two weeks ago, our coalition helped to secure 64 Representatives’ signatures on a letter supporting funding for OAA Nutrition Programs including Representatives Gene Green (TX-29) and Shelia Jackson Lee (TX-18) from Houston.

Your support of our Meals on Wheels programs are truly appreciated. We will keep you informed of opportunities for you to contact your representatives and support our efforts as we fight to restore OAA funding for the federal budget year that begins October 1^st.

If you would like to make a donation to help fund our Meals on Wheels program, please click here. Thank you for being an important member of the movement to end senior hunger in Houston!