Possible cuts could doom Valley seniors
Some of the most vulnerable seniors in the Imperial Valley, who currently are part of the senior nutrition programs, could be adversely impacted if the proposed cuts the federal government become a reality.
The cuts are expected to have a profound effect on more than 1,000 seniors in the Imperial Valley, especially the 152 seniors who currently receive home-delivered meals and the more than 100 seniors who are in the program’s waiting list.
Last week, the White House unveiled a proposal which completely eliminates the Community Development Grant Program which provides annual grants to local governments to invest in affordable housing, natural disaster recovery and other social programs such as nutrition programs aiming at helping low-income communities.
In addition to the proposed CDBG cuts, the federal government has also proposed significant cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services which oversees the home delivered meals program known as Meals on Wheels.
Most of the funding local providers rely on in order to pay for the meals of seniors in need come through the Older American Act which funds 35 percent of the congregate and home-delivered meal programs nationwide. The Meal on Wheels America website states that even though “The impact on these funds has not yet been announced but, given the proposed 17.9 percent cut prescribed for HHS, could be at risk.”
Imperial County Area Agency on Aging Public Administrator Norma Saikhon said that all the funding the agency receives comes from the state of California but some of those funds California allocates to the county come from the federal government. “It would have a huge impact in our community because many of the seniors we serve rely on the nutritional program to get their only hot meal of the day,” Saikhon said.
The Area Agency on Aging is the recipients of the funds for the senior nutrition programs and they have contracted Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego to distribute the meals throughout the county.
Dealing with budget cuts for the agency is nothing new.
Despite the increasing number of seniors in the community, Saikhon noted that in the last 15 years the AAA’s budget has been decreasing steadily from $1.4 million to less than $900,000.
In the current fiscal year which began in July, Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego has served more than 53,000 meals for more than 1,100 seniors from across the Valley according to Robert Moser, the organization’s executive director.
Currently, 152 seniors receive home-delivered meals and 113 more are on a waiting list.
Moser said as recently as 2010 the organization didn’t had a waiting list for the Meals on Wheels, but with the cuts in funding they’re unable to serve all the seniors in need.
“This issue is not about the number of people that, or number of meals that we serve. This is about the vulnerability of people who can least afford not to eat,” Moser said.
He said that in addition to delivering meals to the homebound seniors that can’t get to the dining rooms where congregate meals are served, the program allows them to provide daily welfare checks to those who are living isolated.
“Our drivers are often the only social contact a senior has, those five minutes of daily interaction may be the only quality social time some may have,” he said.
In the coming months, as more details regarding the budget plans the White House has emerge particularly regarding the Older Americans Act, the more accurately the impact of such cuts can be assessed, but the intent itself is enough to be concerned about possible funding struggles to come.
“We really expect to be in worse shape than in previous years,” Saikhon said. “If the proposed reductions get done and if Older Americans Act gets cut, it will not only affect Meals on Wheels but all of our programs.”
The other programs that could be affected if the act gets cut include respite care, legal services, nutrition education and medical wellness programs.