Senior meal providers eye federal budget cuts

March 18--More than 300 senior citizens in the Wabash Valley depend on a federally funded program to receive meals, and that funding could be eliminated in the initial budget proposed by President Donald Trump's administration.

The meals are provided to residents age 60 and older, or people who are disabled, over a six-county area through the West Central Indiana Economic Development District's Area 7 Agency on Aging and Disabled.

Last year, that agency provided nearly 62,100 meals to 324 people. The money to pay for that food distribution came primarily from federal funding administered by the state of Indiana through the Older Americans Act.

The agency that administrates such distributions under the Older Americans Act, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, would see a nearly 18 percent cut in Trump's proposed budget.

"We don't know the impact yet, but with any cut, we would work on trying to get other funding to offset costs," said Gloria L. Wetnight, director of Area 7 Agency on Aging and Disabled.

The agency currently receives about 85 percent of its funding from federal dollars, Wetnight said.

The meal program delivers five frozen meals once a week. Some hot meals are provided through 10 dining congregate sites in Vigo, Sullivan, Vermillion and Parke counties.

"We are (also) working to get congregate sites in Putnam and Clay counties again," Wetnight said.

The agency last year received $345,478 for the meal program. "We also request $.125 per meal, but we are not allowed to charge under the Older Americans Act, "Wetnight said, adding many recipients do not pay for the meals.

In 2015, the agency was able to obtain a $100,000 grant from Walmart, used to expand its food delivery to nearly 70 more people, Wetnight said. That service was cut back in 2016, when the grant ended.

Some people were then referred to Meals on Wheels of Terre Haute, an agency supported in part through the United Way of the Wabash Valley.

That program charges $5.50 per week for the service.

"A lot of people in our program cannot afford the more than $25 a month for that. We do refer people to them as long as they live in Terre Haute, but we service people in more rural areas, which is also part of the Older Americans Act," Wetnight said.

Meals on Wheels of Terre Haute last year served 36,500 meals to 197 people, said Director Rita Mace Kaperak.

"We fully expect people to come over to our service if there are federal cuts," Kaperak said. That increase could push Meals on Wheels to serve as many as 250 people, she said.

Meals on Wheels delivers two meals a day -- one hot and one cold. The program's 2016 budget was about $125,000, but 2017 funding from the United Way of the Wabash Valley was cut 5.7 percent from last year, Kaperak said.

In larger cities, federal money helps to partially fund independently operated Meals on Wheels agencies, which delivered food to 2.5 million Americans, including 500,000 veterans, last year, according to Meals on Wheel's national chapter.

Besides nutrition, the national program says its efforts have the benefits of reducing loneliness and preventing falls, which it says saves taxpayers $34 billion per year in hospital bills.

Meals on Wheels of Terre Haute depends on volunteer drivers to deliver meals. It also relies on donations and sponsors.

The program's office is located in the basement of First Congregational Church at 630 Ohio St. in Terre Haute. It can be reached at 812-232-3979 or via email at thmealsonwheels@gmail.com. The organization's web site is www.MOWTH.org.

Area 7 Agency on Aging and Disability is located at WCIEDD's office at 1718 Wabash Ave. in Terre Haute and can be contact at 812-238-1561.The agency's web site is www.westcentralin.com/area7.htm.

Reporter Howard Greninger can be reached 812-231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com. Follow on Twitter@TribStarHoward.

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