Aging in America News

| Q & A with Josh Protas of Meals on Wheels America

| Working on behalf of the network of more than 5,000 independent community-based providers across the country, Meals on Wheels provides more than 250 million meals annually to more than 2 million seniors. We spoke to Meals on Wheels America’s Chief Advocacy and Policy Officer Josh Protas.

What have you discovered about the needs and preferences of the older people you serve?

They want to eat meals that meet their unique health needs and that correspond to their traditions and cultures. Programs are community-based, so these are organizations that are invested in their communities. They know their communities. If there’s a large immigrant community in a particular city and service area, they might provide meals that incorporate some of those traditional foods. 

Beyond the meals, the program forges meaningful connections between the volunteers and the clients.

The foundation of this work is those personal connections that are really special. Bill, for example, lives in California. After his wife passed away, he was really isolated, just sitting alone in his living room every day, with an empty chair next to him. He wasn’t just missing meals, he was missing social connection. Then along comes Mike, a Meals on Wheels volunteer, and everything transformed for Bill. The two of them bonded over their mutual love of racecars and ended up becoming best friends. It’s amazing how something as simple as delivering a meal can open that door and turn into something deep and sometimes even a life-changing friendship. We have this preconceived notion that friendships don’t form across generations, but we hear time and again from volunteers that they develop these meaningful friendships.

The volunteers must get a lot out of the experience.

We heard from a volunteer named Debbie in Ohio. When she first began delivering meals to a new client, Dennis, who is deaf, they communicated through Dennis’s lip-reading skills. But when the pandemic hit and masking mandates went into effect, Dennis couldn’t see her mouth movements and facial expressions. Debbie knew that she couldn’t let something stand between Dennis and the moments of social connection that they had and that he needed and deserved. So she went above and beyond. She turned to YouTube and advanced her American Sign Language skills. Dennis embraced the role of teacher, and they continue with their friendship through weekly visits, communicating by sign. 

What’s the funding situation for you these days?

Funding has not kept pace with a growing senior population or with rising costs for food program operations. So unfortunately, many programs around the country have been forced to keep waiting lists. One in three of our members report having a waiting list, with an average wait time of four months, and, in some cases, two years or more. Our End The Wait strategic plan  calls attention to the wait lists that many Meals on Wheels programs face, and another element of it is waiting for our country to prioritize the needs of seniors. Nobody should have to struggle to get access to food and to basic needs, but somehow I think for older adults, it’s been okay to overlook that. 

What do you think the cultural explanation is, or is it politics? 

It’s strange, because seniors tend to be very active voters, but we serve a largely homebound older adult population, and so maybe people just don’t want to see that, or they don’t want to acknowledge the needs in the community. It’s also reflected in charitable giving. Less than 1% of charitable giving goes to support senior-focused causes. 

How do you quantify the return on investment in a program like this?

This is a smart investment. It actually saves our government money by preventing more expensive health care or long-term care interventions. In fact, we can serve a senior Meals on Wheels for an entire year—including nutritious meals, moments of social connection and safety and wellness checks—for roughly the same cost as 10 days in a long-term care facility or just one day in a hospital. By providing Meals on Wheels, we’re helping individuals remain at home where they want to be, living independently for longer. So it saves money, even if the Congressional Budget Office doesn’t score those savings.