San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Programs help restaurants, provide meals to vulnerable residents
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The Great Plates meal programs are temporary governmentfunded programs that help keep seniors and adults with disabilities safe at home during the pandemic while also helping local restaurants.
Great Plates Delivered: Home Meals for Seniors provides three meals per day to adults 65 and older and those 60 to 64 with certain health conditions. The program, initiated by Gov. Gavin Newsom, pairs each participant with a local restaurant that has signed up to be responsible for preparing and delivering three nutritious meals daily. The program is free to meal recipients and is funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency as well as state and local funding sources.
Great Plates 2.0: Dinner Delivered is an extension of the program by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and supported by local allocations of CARES Act funds. The program, started in August, provides one meal daily to those 18 and over with health conditions and disabilities.
Following federal guidelines, these temporary programs are intended to fill a gap and serve those who are not eligible for any other federal nutrition benefits, such as Cal Fresh or the Senior Nutrition Program where incomes must be between $24,981 and $74,940 for a single-person household and $33,821 and $101,460 for a two-person household.
More than 60 restaurants are currently involved in the program and over 2,400 older adults have been enrolled county-wide.
To learn more, visit www.aging.sandiegocounty.gov and click on the Great Plates Programs button. Or call the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency at (800) 339-4661 and select option 7. If you do not qualify for the Great Plates programs, call 211 to discuss additional food resources that may be available.