Drop in Funding Causes REAL Services to Drop Meal Day
Posted
Kathy Cone-kcone@timesuniononline.com
REAL Services announced this week that its hot meal program would be cut by a day starting Saturday. The agency has been serving meals Monday through Friday at eight locations, mostly senior centers, throughout Kosciusko County. These sites are in Syracuse, Mentone, Silver Lake, Winona Lake, Pierceton, North Webster and two in Warsaw. From March until the end of June, there will be no meals provided on Fridays. Mobile Meals, sponsored locally by Kosciusko Community Senior Services, will not be affected and recipients of those meals will continue to receive their daily allotments, said Dennis Judy, executive director of KCSS. Judy said, “We are just a host the site for REAL Services. This might affect special events, but we are not, per se, affected.” Crystal Hallwood, coordinator of programs for REAL Services, explained that fewer funding dollars and increased costs for food and transportation have caused the South Bend-based agency to make the cuts. Asked if the cuts were because of fewer funds coming from the federal government, she said, “It’s more complicated than that.” “For instance, she added, “the cost of fuel has gone up causing a rise in the cost of transporting the food to our hosting sites.” The program began around the same time as the enactment of Title III, or the Older Americans Act, in the mid-1960s. “It was created,” she said, “to provide a hot meal to Americans at least 60 years old, their spouses and parents of a disabled child. It’s a congregate meal program,” she said, adding that one of the most important aspects of the program, besides providing what might be a person’s only hot meal for the day, is providing a community for people who might otherwise stay home alone. ”People are there to be with other people,” said Hallwood. Meals prices are based on donations with a suggested price of $4.25, but, she said, “We don’t always get that.” Emphasizing it’s importance to those who stop by the sites, she added, “We’re the quiet voice in the community.” Judy said seniors stop by the KCSS activity center for coffee or a game of cards, then stay for the noon meal. Their numbers might run anywhere from 10 to 12 or even from 25 to 30. Asked about the cuts, he said, “It’s the tail end of the sequester, and now it’s getting to us. It’s from the government cutting funding, and it’s trickling downhill. When the government budget gets tight, we are all subject to it.” He explained funding for this agency comes from REAL Services, United Way, K21 Health, Kosciusko County Community Foundation, businesses and grants.” Noting they might feel the pinch, he continued, “We are working on coming up with other options.” For instance, the center hosts special days, such as “Fun Day” and birthday parties for that month’s celebrants, mostly on Wednesdays and Thursdays. These events are frequently sponsored by local businesses. “We could move our schedule so that Friday meals would be picked up by those sponsors.” That way, REAL Services would continue to provide the hot meals Monday through Friday, but meals would still be provided on Fridays. Hallwood said she visited all the host sites recently to inform them of the upcoming cuts. “The seniors were supportive and gracious. They know what it’s like to run a household with less,” she said, adding that afterwards she heard many talking about options. Suggestions included holding potlucks, meeting at places like Subway. Most important, said Hallwood, they wanted to make sure to reach out to neighbors so nobody is left out, without a hot meal.
