Meal Program for Elderly Faces Cuts

By Stephanie Johnson, KOLD Channel 13

August 18, 2008 

A program that provides meals for 1,400 elderly people in Pima County 23 days of every month is in a financial crisis.

Soaring gas and food prices have outpaced Pima Meals on Wheels' budget, and program leaders said they will likely have to reduce the number of client visits they make.

The concern for Meals on Wheels leaders is that slashing visits will deprive their elderly clients of social contact. An important aspect of the program is that it helps their clients stay in their homes, rather than go to a nursing home or other facility.

Pima Meals on Wheels has a budget of $2.4 million, which is a blend of public and private money. Most comes through the federal government's Older Americans Act. The budget has remained stagnant in recent years while gas and food prices grew more expensive.

The per-meal cost has gone from $2.13 to $2.43 in that same period.

Meals on Wheels programs across the country have been similarly affected, according to the national Meals on Wheels Association of America.

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