April 25, 2006 

Alix Geluardi has dizzy spells and memory loss probably caused by a stroke. But at 74, she isn't ready to spend her days seated inside her one-room apartment at a downtown Sacramento senior complex. Geluardi rises early and makes herself a bowl of oatmeal in the microwave, which helps her manage hypoglycemia, she said. Then she meditates while waiting for a warm lunch from the Sacramento County Meals on Wheels program. Most days the food arrives before noon. Those warm meals are scheduled to stop May 28. 

Geluardi has received a letter from the program stating she no longer qualifies for the home service because she is mobile, she said. Now the Beatnik-era poet is fighting back, challenging bureaucratic protocols, hoping to keep her warm meals coming.  "I'm supposed to stay in that one room all day long? No way, man!" Geluardi said. 

Geluardi is one of thousands of Sacramento County residents routinely reviewed by the Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance. The reviews are part of a federally required process that takes place three to four times a year per person. Individuals deemed no longer eligible for the meal program are sent letters in the mail, and about 80 people take themselves off the program because they no longer need the service, said Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance spokeswoman Lucinda Serynek. "The most needy are who we want to serve," Serynek said. 

The hot meals delivered to the doorsteps of elderly people can end at any time, depending on the person's condition, officials say. Instead, elderly who can leave their homes are offered warm lunches at several county-run cafes. 
"These programs are not meant to get on them and stay on them," said Enid Borden, CEO of the Meals on Wheels Association of America. "Maybe that person can actually get out now. But maybe that person's next-door neighbor can't." 

Four out of 10 Meals on Wheels programs in the United States have waiting lists, Borden said. In Sacramento, about 600 people are waiting - and the list keeps growing. "That's huge," said Joseph Sharkey, a Texas A&M professor and editor of a journal of nutrition for the elderly.  The number of adults using Meals on Wheels has changed dramatically since the program began, Sharkey said. Hospitals have been releasing patients earlier after medical procedures and illness, creating a need for nutritional assistance at home. 
And people are living longer.  "There's such a great need. Realistically, we may be looking at the tip of the iceberg as we see this tidal wave of baby boomers coming along," Sharkey said. 

Geluardi believes seniors can't be expected to get moving in the morning without a nutritious meal that includes protein. For Geluardi, the Meals On Wheels food provides nourishment that helps provide strength for a visit to the Sacramento Main Library, where she does research and outreach for local homeless people, she said. "For some of the seniors, this is really bad. They vitally need this food. They need the nutrition," Geluardi said as she sat outside the Fluid Café on N Street munching on a homemade bologna sandwich brought by her caregiver. 

The Sacramento Meals on Wheels program recently received some financial relief. Program administrators presented the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors with a report last week detailing $80,000 in recent private donations.  The Sacramento program receives 42 percent of its money from the federal government. Twenty-seven percent comes from the county's general fund, 16 percent from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, 10 percent from donations, and 4 percent from other cities in the county, Serynek said. 

Geluardi's letter stated the Sacramento home-delivered meal service is "stretched to the maximum," and only those ranked in the highest priority according to need will qualify. Termination of meal service is based on an individual's "most recent assessment," the letter stated. 
It was dated April 3 and signed by Laura Pilarski, home-delivered meal supervisor. 

"I'm very panicky because I'm worried I won't be able to function in the morning. That was the secret to my strength," Geluardi said. 
The letter to Geluardi indicated priority for meals is based on advanced age, two or more chronic health conditions, decreased mobility and a lack of financial support.  Geluardi contends she came up short in the assessment because she wasn't at home when a county worker stopped by for an unscheduled visit. Geluardi believes she still qualifies for meals. 

"I'm at the library as soon as I can get there. Don't try to keep me in bed because I know people die there," she said. 
"I may be 74, but I'm still tough, man."

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