Meals on Wheels is an expert at bringing warm, nutritious meals to millions of seniors every day. But its services extend beyond the dinner table. Meals on Wheels has successfully navigated into the arena of critical home repairs, a significant but seldom addressed issue for many seniors. Through its partnership with The Home Depot Foundation, its bringing home repairs to many senior veterans.
We spoke with Colleen Clark, Meals on Wheels development director, to hear about the impact Meals on Wheels is making.
How many veterans does Meals on Wheels serve?
Meals on Wheels programs nationwide serve more than 500,000 veterans each year. Based on our figures, veterans comprise more than one fifth of the seniors we serve in virtually every community across the country, though that may underestimate our impact since not all programs are aware of their clients’ veteran status.
Many people may be unaware Meals on Wheels helps seniors with critical home repairs. How did you get started and what are you doing to help aging veterans?
For us it’s so much more than a meal. We’re best known for delivering meals to homebound older adults, but we often find our clients’ needs go beyond nutrition. We help seniors cope with the three biggest threats of aging: hunger, isolation and loss of independence. Several local Meals on Wheels programs offer home repair as part of their efforts to help seniors continue to live independently.
What are some of the top critical home repairs that seniors need?
Like the general population, older adults have a wide variety of electrical and plumbing needs. But, the focus is improving safety and accessibility for seniors so that they can remain in their own homes. Meals on Wheels home repairs also focus on decreasing the rate of falls among seniors. We’ve worked with clients to build wheelchair ramps, install grab bars, even flooring, clear debris and clutter and weatherize homes.
How does your partnership with The Home Depot Foundation and Team Depot help meet these needs?
The Home Depot Foundation is instrumental in supporting our mission. Through our partnership with The Home Depot Foundation, we have provided funding to support critical home repairs for Meals on Wheels elderly military veterans in several states. All modifications are focused on enhancing safety and enabling independence so that the seniors can continue to remain in their homes as they age with dignity. Assessments are typically done by a social worker or paid staff during a site visit.
They also provide Team Depot volunteers to make the repairs, since oftentimes Meals on Wheels programs lack volunteers with the appropriate skills.
For example, Team Depot partnered with Meals on Wheels to transform the home of an elderly veteran and his wife near Austin, Texas. Fifty five Team Depot volunteers from all over the state helped do everything from cleaning clutter, installing new bathroom cabinets and a vanity to make the room more wheelchair accessible, to installing a ceiling fan and painting.
The husband commented, “What these folks are doing, there’s no way we could afford this. The main thing I’m hoping is that it will take away some of the fear of her [his wife] falling. It protects her and it helps me because I can’t pick her up anymore. It just means a whole lot to know that we have someone out there that will help us. If we need a helping hand, we can get it from Meals on Wheels.”
Visit Meals on Wheels online to learn more.
