< Food Is Just One Serving Of What Meals On Wheels Gives Seniors

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Let's stick with policy questions we're talking about now. President Trump's budget would eliminate funding for some programs that help provide affordable housing and other services for the poor and elderly. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney says these programs don't work. One of them is Meals on Wheels.

Now, that caught the attention of NPR's Ina Jaffe who covers aging. She went on delivery rounds with Meals on Wheels volunteers to see how they and their clients feel about the service.

INA JAFFE, BYLINE: On a hazy morning, Allan Zebker and Vicki Kysella are organizing packages of food in the back of Zebker's SUV. They're volunteers with Meals on Wheels West in Santa Monica. They've got their routine down.

VICKI KYSELLA: Allan packs the bags (laughter). I make the deliveries.

ALLAN ZEBKER: And while she's delivering, I pack more bags.

JAFFE: Every client gets a hot meal along with a couple of lighter meals or snacks. Altogether, it provides a day's worth of calories, about 2,000 total. Kysella also works with a farmer's market to add some fresh fruits and vegetables to the packages she delivers.

She knows client Betty Hanover will really appreciate them.

KYSELLA: So today I'm giving you a giant grapefruit, a couple zucchinis and a lettuce.

BETTY HANOVER: Oh.

KYSELLA: I know.

HANOVER: Oh, thank you so much.

KYSELLA: There was so much good stuff today. You're welcome.

HANOVER: You're just so good to me.

JAFFE: Betty Hanover is 93. She can't drive to the market because her eyesight is bad. She can't walk there because she can't be on her feet very long. She says Meals on Wheels makes all the difference.

HANOVER: So it helps me stay in my own home here rather than go to a nursing facility.

JAFFE: Meals on Wheels could bring Betty Hanover food for nearly seven years for the cost of just one month in a nursing home, and that nursing home cost would probably be paid for by Medicaid. But saving the government money isn't why Hanover loves to hear the Meals on Wheels volunteers knock on her door.

HANOVER: It's my big meal of the day and the big excitement of the day. It's fun.

JAFFE: Meals on Wheels gets a little over a third of its money from the federal government. The rest comes from local governments, foundations and individuals. But each of the 5,000 local Meals on Wheels programs has its own mix of funders.

The federal programs slated for elimination called Community Development Block Grants supplies very little money for Meals on Wheels overall, but in some locations it's crucial says Ellie Hollander president of Meals on Wheels America.

ELLIE HOLLANDER: I know we have a couple of programs in Pennsylvania and at least two that I've talked to in Michigan that are very concerned about the elimination of those grants.

JAFFE: Most of the federal money for Meals on Wheels comes through the Older Americans Act. That's part of the Department of Health and Human Services budget which is slated for a cut of nearly 18 percent. Hollander says how that would affect Meals on Wheels is anyone's guess.

HOLLANDER: It would be difficult to imagine a scenario that would be free from harm.

JAFFE: Studies show that Meals on Wheels protects its clients from harm. They have better nutrition, fewer hospitalizations and fewer falls. Seventy-five-year-old Vickey Healy became a Meals on Wheels client after she suffered a serious fall in her bathroom.

VICKEY HEALY: And I was there for one night and two days.

JAFFE: Now that she has Meals on Wheels, she doesn't think she would wait so long to be rescued.

HEALY: I realize the value of having somebody come every day, and I know they're going to come.

JAFFE: Bringing her good food, a little company and peace of mind, Ina Jaffe, NPR News.

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