More than 4,000 volunteers work with Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County to cook and deliver healthy food to homebound residents, eating the increased cost of gas and groceries to continue the nonprofit’s mission.
“One of the amazing things that our volunteers do, is they do provide their own vehicle and they provide the funding for their gasoline when they’re delivering meals,” said Alyssa Deaton, CEO of Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County.
“We have some volunteers who are willing to deliver, you know, more than one route a week if they have additional time,” she continued. “But sometimes, with gas prices and rising costs, that would limit the number of times that they can deliver.”
Yet they still manage to provide nearly a million meals to Tarrant County residents, or about 3,500 meals per day.
“We’ve been fortunate here at Meals on Wheels to just have a great community that’s consistently supported us,” Deaton says. “We’ve been able to maintain a no waitlist policy, but that’s just through a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication from our dedicated staff and volunteers.”
But she says she sees the impact the rising cost of food has on the organization’s clients.
“If you take a look at the numbers in the state of Texas, about [half] of senior adults who live alone struggle to pay their basic needs month to month,” Deaton said. “So, we see food costs affecting us as an agency, but also the people we serve.”
Deaton says most of the organization’s clients are older adults or adults with disabilities, but she says Meals on Wheels serves anyone who is homebound, unable to prepare nutritious meals for themselves or do not have someone regularly helping them.
Aside from meal deliveries, she says a central piece of Meals on Wheels’ mission is to provide clients with a sense of autonomy.
“We try and do that a lot of ways,” she said. “Through case manager relationships, but also by giving all of our clients meal choice. Whenever a client comes to Meals on Wheels, they get a choice of a different entree that they select through a menu selection process, and that gives them autonomy but also takes into account their religious preferences, food preferences, dietary needs and things like that.”
But it also goes beyond the food.
“One of the things that we want to do is just to provide them with a nutritious meal and friendly support through volunteers,” she said. “That helps with reducing social isolation and gives them a community connection. We want our clients just to feel appreciated, and I think we see that through that volunteer relationship. Some of our volunteers and clients have almost become good friends, almost to the level of family.”
If you are looking for ways to support the work Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County does, Deaton says the work starts in your own neighborhood.
“Keep your eyes open for maybe a homebound neighbor, someone who may be a little bit isolated, and reach out to them,” she said. “We do provide great opportunities for volunteers to connect with their local communities. So, there’s always a need for volunteers, always a needs for funding, and we’re always just ready to get people plugged in and involved.”
Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning are the hosts of KERA’s NTX Now. Got a tip? Email Miranda at msuarez@kera.org or Ron at rcorning@kera.org.
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