Retirement News : Seniors : Homebound seniors going without food

Homebound seniors going without food

Date Added: 23-04-2005

The kitchen at Senior Friendship Center of Venice is a bustling center of activity for about two hours every day, as meals are packed up and shipped out to older residents who cannot leave their homes.

There's still plenty of action each day. Unfortunately, an average of 25 fewer seniors are receiving daily hot meals compared to this time a year ago because there's not enough money.

And unless something changes, this is a trend Kathy Emmett, director of elder services at Senior Friendship Center of Venice, sees as only getting worse in Sarasota County's oldest community, where the 80-plus age category continues to grow.

"It almost breaks my heart to share these statistics with you," Emmett said to members of the Venice Senior Living Committee on Wednesday. "As you all know, the 80-plus age category is the fastest growing population out there. The need is for more meals, not less."

Homebound meals are for seniors unable to leave their residence. In each of the last three years, the total number of meals provided has decreased.

There were 93,000 meals delivered in 2002. Last year, that total was down to 82,000 -- a decrease of 11,000 meals all because Senior Friendship Center ran out of money and had to turn people away.

"We were referring 10 people a week to (Venice Area Mobile Meals). ... This really is a crisis," said Keith Backhaus, chair of Senior Living Committee and elder advocate with Senior Friendship Center.

Getting worse

Statistics for 2005 are not looking much better. Cheryl Carpenter, who runs the Friendship Center's nutrition program, said meal deliveries are down to about 50 per day when they averaged 75 a day last year.

As for delivery drivers, the number of volunteers is on the decline, something Carpenter attributes to gas prices. The Venice location does not reimburse volunteers mileage for delivering meals.

The site-based meals program also is hurting, with the number of meals served down by 39,000 compared to 2002 when 77,000 meals were handed out in the dining hall. Lack of funding is to blame for this, also, Emmett said.

Fewer dining hall meals is especially troubling because they lure seniors out of their homes. The noontime meals are an opportunity to get dressed up and socialize.

It's food for the soul, not just the body.

"It's very important for them to be able to come into the center, to prevent isolation and loneliness," Carpenter said.

Loss of human contact is one of Emmett's greatest concerns with the homebound meals program. The center has had to start enforcing income and disability requirements, something the organization traditionally has not had to do.

A person who has to pay $5 a day for the meal is less likely to request it, and thus, to interact and talk to another person that day.

Instead, the person sits at home alone.

"For too many of our clients receiving meals, that may be the only human contact they have that day," Emmett said. "That's sad to admit."

Why now?

Much of the meals program funding comes from the Older Americans Act. While the federal government has not reduced funding, the dollar amounts have remained flat. The "crunch" has finally caught up with Friendship Center in Venice during the past two years.

Flat funding is essentially a cut, according to Emmett. Food prices alone have increased 11 percent since last year, on top of higher transportation and preparation costs.

"Prices have increased and funding hasn't," Emmett said. "Even cutting back, serving only the most critical, we had a loss of $15,000 this past year."

Senior Living Committee members brainstormed about ideas to help. Don Ottinger suggested approaching homeowner associations for group donations, while Marlene Fleming pointed to information campaigns to pull in volunteers.

Fleming believes both financial and volunteer help are available, but many in Venice simply do not realize the problem.

"There's probably much money out there, but it's never been tapped," Fleming said. "(The community) just needs to be informed."

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