Meals on Wheels Tarrant County is facing uncertainty after learning they will lose nearly half a million dollars in funding.
While the daily delivery of meals —a crucial lifeline for seniors — will continue, other essential services will be impacted.
“These budget cuts are really going to affect a lot of seniors and disabled residents here in Tarrant County,” said Philip Gonzalez with Meals on Wheels Tarrant County.
The impacted ancillary services include a transportation program that provides rides to and from adult activity centers. Wellness checks and nutrition counseling programs are now halted, as is a program called HomeMeds, a medication safety program for seniors.
“We know the impact that’s had since we started the program, and it’s kept a number of our clients from going to emergency rooms and having to go to the doctor and hospital visits,” Gonzalez explained. “So it has saved taxpayers a lot of money in that regard as well.”
The Visiting Nurse Association runs the Meals on Wheels program in the Dallas area. They say they’ve received no notice of cuts in funding for their meals program — yet.
“Yeah. This is new for sure,” admitted Chris Culak with Visiting Nurse Association Texas. “And it’s really almost every day you kind of have to watch and see, like tomorrow? Are things going to change a week from now?”
Although meal programs have so far been spared from the budget-cutting axe, advocates admit that the climate of cost-cutting, seemingly without regard for consequences, has them worried.
“And a big, big challenge for meals programs is how do you sort of create your budgets,” pondered Culak, “and how do you look to the future, and how do you really make sure that we’re feeding the clients that deserve to have a meal?”
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is tasked with administering the federal funds. For now, advocates say they are relieved that there have been no funding cuts targeting meal deliveries. They’re asking supporters to reach out to their state and federal elected officials to share their concerns about the budget cuts targeting the ancillary services and to reaffirm their support for Meals on Wheels.
“We’ve always got to look to the future,” said Gonzalez. “And right now, the future sees us continuing to deliver the meals every day to our clients that we serve.”