Senior food service program to roll into new building

Senior food service program to roll into new building

By Spinal Column Staff | on October 13, 2021
BY DIANE GALE ANDREASSIFacebookTwitterEmailMessengerCopy LinkSMSShare

Meals on Wheels, a program delivering food to seniors, recently got good news from Sen. Jim Runestad about securing a $1.1 million state grant to make it easier to provide 1,500 meals Monday through Friday.

The money will be used by the Western Oakland Meals on Wheels and Livingston County Senior Nutrition Program to purchase a building to prepare the meals. At deadline for this story negotiations had begun on a buying a building in Livingston County, but nothing was finalized.
During the 35 years the program has operated, Meals on Wheels operated at various locations, including the Livingston County Jail and churches. They currently prepare meals at Hartland High School, but that meant starting to cook at 3:30 a.m., making three batches and finishing at 9 a.m. so as not to disrupt students. They staged meal packaging throughout the school’s hallways.

“As a long-time supporter and volunteer for Meals on Wheels, I know firsthand that this one meal is sometimes the only meal some seniors will get each day,” Runestad said. “I made deliveries for about a year and a half in Waterford and have continued to actively participate in volunteering and supporting our local Western Oakland Program.”

Meals on Wheels is much more than a meal. It also provides homebound older adults human contact, giving seniors and their families a sense of security. The program has increased 35-40 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We saw a tremendous increase, and it sustained itself,” said Bridget Ajemian, program director for Meals on Wheels for Livingston and Western Oakland counties. “Since we were considered essential, we went out and never stopped. Once people could get out, the need didn’t decrease. When we deliver meals, we make sure they’re getting up and getting around. If they don’t answer the door, something is usually wrong and place a call to their emergency contact.”

Margaret Davey, executive director of Meals on Wheels for Livingston and Western Oakland said the group’s motto, “No senior goes hungry,” was maintained, even during the pandemic.
“We don’t turn anyone away,” Davey said.

Meals are delivered daily to all of Livingston County, as well as Highland, South Lyon, Novi, Northville, New Hudson, Wixom, Walled Lake, Wolverine Lake, Union Lake, Orchard Lake, West Bloomfield, Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake, White Lake, Commerce Township, Milford and Milford Township, Holly, Springfield Township, Davisburg, parts of Clarkston and Rose Township.
The state budgeted enhancement grant allots for $900,000 to purchase a facility, and $200,000 to provide upgrades and cubicle office space modifications and other structural changes. The money is included in the state’s 2022 budget. The Hartland school lease expires in less than nine months.

“The alternative to securing this location would have been decoupling the Western Oakland program from Livingston, as they could not find a space large enough to serve both programs,” Runestad said. “This would have certainly resulted in interruptions in services to seniors in our communities.”

Meanwhile, Meals on Wheels will continue to raise funds for equipment and to fund food costs that go beyond their budget.

“We always overserve from what we’ve been funded from donations that come from the community, which keeps seniors off a waiting list,” Ajemian explained.

Livingston County Senior Nutrition Program and Western Oakland Meals on Wheels are funded through the Area Agency on Aging 1B. Seniors must be 60 years old, housebound and can’t drive to be eligible. There is no income requirement.

The program couldn’t survive without the 450 volunteers, Davey said.
“But we can always use more,” she said adding that volunteers choose the days they are available, ranging from daily to once monthly. “We make it work.”

Many seniors may not realize they are eligible for these services. If you know a senior who could benefit from a daily meal delivery, write an email at mealsonwheelsmi.org or call 810-632-2155.