Meals on Wheels folks nervous about the future Meals on Wheels folks nervous about the future (August 25, 2004)

** Costs go up as federal, state funding stays roughly level, officials say.

By Rebecca Wallace
Almanac Staff Writer

The beef tamales smell tempting as they're loaded into Elli Foley's Corvette, but they aren't the only reason she drives her weekly Meals on Wheels route. Neither is the rice. Nor the spinach.

Thinking back on her four years with the Peninsula Volunteers, Ms. Foley remembers catching an ailing client in her arms as the woman passed out. Opening bottles that stump elderly fingers. Bringing Valentine's Day roses to clients living alone.

Sometimes, after putting the meal in the kitchen, she's simply encouraged to sit down for a chat.

"That's the fun of it for me," she said. "So many people feel like no one wants to talk to them."

Volunteers bringing meals to people who are elderly, disabled or ill -- it's a well-established service all over the Peninsula, provided by a coalition of nonprofit groups contracting with the county. That includes Menlo Park's Peninsula Volunteers, which delivers from San Carlos to East Palo Alto. In fiscal year 2003-04, the coalition provided some 150,000 meals.

Many residents count on Meals on Wheels, not only because they're unable to cook but because the service becomes a lifeline to shut-ins, with drivers checking up on them regularly. Some use it only for a short time, while recuperating from surgery.

Trouble is, the service doesn't exactly have a profitable tradition. It's been losing money for Peninsula Volunteers since 1998, interim executive director Michelle Knapik said. And even as expenses such as the cost of food and gasoline continue to rise, funding from the state and federal governments isn't following suit.

Throw in a jittery economy and residents who are counting their pennies and not making donations to nonprofit groups, and you have some nervous Meals on Wheels officials.

The officials stress that the program is not in any immediate danger, and say there's no talk of cutbacks at this point. But they're still worried about the future.

Peninsula Volunteers is stepping up its fundraising efforts and also trying to run its program more efficiently, by having the cooking done in-house instead of by a contractor, Ms. Knapik said. She's also eying the drivers' routes to make sure they can serve the maximum number of clients possible on each course.

Some clients do give voluntary donations. But Ms. Knapik is also considering adding a new potential source of income: seeking out residents who are able to cook for themselves, but just don't want to. They'd pay a fee for each meal, and thus help cover program costs.

'It's been a lifesaver'

Elli Foley's Meals on Wheels route, which takes about an hour and a half, starts on a quiet Menlo Park street. Catherine Blaul Liebendorfer, a petite grandmotherly woman, beams as Ms. Foley walks into her neat-as-a-pin living room.

"What've we got?" Ms. Liebendorfer asks, leaning over the box of food. Ms. Foley opens the cranberry juice carton and puts it in the refrigerator, which is how her client likes it. She's been coming to the house once a week for two years; other program drivers come the other days of the week.

"I could not live in this house without the help I get from Meals on Wheels," says Ms. Liebendorfer, stroking her cat, Tori. As for the food: "I'm very satisfied with it."

Tori jumps free and heads for the coffee table, where she drinks water out of a plant. Ms. Liebendorfer watches. "How do I break her of that, Elli?"

"You could squirt her with a water bottle," Ms. Foley advises gently, but Ms. Liebendorfer is reluctant: "She's a great companion."

The next stop is a small apartment complex nearby, where resident George Concannon booms delightedly, "Hey!" at the sight of Ms. Foley. He's been getting daily meals delivered for about two-and-a-half years, starting when he broke his hip.

Inspired by his travels, Mr. Concannon's paintings cover the walls, accompanied by a rather dashing photo of himself as a 25-year-old Naval officer in World War II. He chats with Ms. Foley, telling a story about the old days in Menlo Park, when he lived next to Allied Arts and rode his horse to go get the mail. One day, he says with a chuckle, the horse followed him into the post office.

Ms. Foley readies the meal in the kitchen, then opens a stubborn bottle of mouthwash that her client had struggled with.

"This Meals on Wheels is fantastic," Mr. Concannon says. "You get a reliable meal every day. And it's nutritious. Otherwise it'd be pretty hit or miss."

Down the hall, Florence Holt has heard that the program is having problems and is worried.

"It's been a lifesaver for me," she says. "I have problems keeping my weight on. I have a tendency to go a long time without eating."

As a senior citizen, Ms. Holt is part of a group whose Meals on Wheels funding seems most secure. Much of the cost for clients ages 60 and older is covered by federal and state money, said Stephen Juel, a San Mateo County health services manager who oversees the county's Meals on Wheels programs.

For clients under 60, though, the programs rely mostly on fundraising to cover costs, which countywide total $130,000 to $150,000 annually, Mr. Juel said. The 160 to 170 clients served annually include people living with AIDS or mental health problems.

Counties don't typically open Meals on Wheels programs to so many younger people, but the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors decided in 1991 that "we need to be serving everyone who's hungry," Mr. Juel said. The county initially gave $30,000 from its general fund, but that dried up, he said.

This year, Meals on Wheels officials were pleased to win a $50,000 grant from the Peninsula Community Foundation and $10,000 in contributions from county employees, Mr. Juel said.

But donations are harder to come by in a recession, and even the state and federal funding for seniors has been sluggish, Mr. Juel said. For example, in fiscal year 1999-2000, federal and state funding for the Meals on Wheels programs in the county was $838,000 for recipients over age 60, he said. Four years later, that figure had dropped to $821,000.

In that same period, food costs rose from $3.80 per meal to $5.50, he said.

Fewer meals delivered

But there's another fact to think about: The number of meals being provided has gone down in recent years. In 1995-96, for example, the county's coalition of nonprofits delivered 175,000 meals to seniors. In 2003-04, the number dropped to about 150,000, Mr. Juel said.

Why is this happening? Mr. Juel has a few theories. Maybe people are moving out of this pricey county, or maybe they don't know about Meals on Wheels. Or, perhaps the nonprofits are providing fewer meals because they are getting less funding, he said.

In any event, he's pretty sure the numbers will start going up due to demographics.

"We have a baby boom population coming in (aging) that's going to come like a tidal wave," he said.

New in her position, Ms. Knapik says she's not sure why Peninsula Volunteers has been delivering fewer meals. In 2003-04, her organization was contracted for 59,500 meals, and instead served 47,700, Mr. Juel said.

One thing is certain: Even as Meals on Wheels officials are working to cut costs and increase revenue, they're also trying to attract more clients.

Ms. Knapik says her employees spread the word by going to fairs and health centers, passing out program fliers and talking to doctors and case managers. "We want to raise awareness that we're here for the people who need us," she said.

This may sound illogical: Why expand a program if you're concerned about its costs? But Mr. Juel has a quick response: "I guess it's why we're in social services. You do it because that's what's needed."

INFORMATION

For more information about Peninsula Volunteers' Meals on Wheels program, which delivers from San Carlos to East Palo Alto, call 326-0665 or go to www.penvol.org. For information on programs elsewhere in San Mateo County, call the county's Aging and Adult Services department at 573-2205.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.