There are two parts to the MOW program. The elderly with nobody around get someone ringing the doorbell and they get a free welfare check as part of the meal delivery.

Somehow the welfare check deal needs to be worked out like a neighborhood watch deal. Elderly people are prone to falls and may have no way to call for help. Decent nutrition is also a concern.

It just isn’t any fun getting old.
A lot of these people need to be relocated into assisted living/group living homes.

I speak from first hand experience with a parent who died at the age of 92 and would not consider the benifits of being around other people. The last few years drained my father of his dignity and money. Assisted living/group living would have been a really good place to be as the clock ran down on his life.

Meals On Wheels and the meals served at Senior Centers in Ada and Elmore counties are done so under contract with the Southwest Idaho Area Agency on Aging (Area III.) Central District Health is getting out of the business because the agency’s subsidy of the program has continued to increase as the grant dollars from Area III shrink. CDHD’s subsidy of the program is about $215,000 a year for both programs (Meals On Wheels and congregate dining.)

To date no other agency has been offered a contract to pick up where CDHD is leaving off. Conversations have been held with representatives of Life’s Kitchen, but the deal is far from being made. For clarification interested/concerned citizens should contact Area III’s Director Lori Brelia at 322-7033 Ext 250 to establish the current status on identifying one or more new contractors.

CDHD has offered to assist in every way possible to insure a smooth transition so that no senior goes without a meal. That offer of assistance includes sharing its list of dedicated volunteers who use their own vehicles to deliver the meals to homebound seniors.
There is no reason to reinvent the system of delivery, in fact one of the employees who will be laid off has years of expertise in recruiting volunteers, mapping routes and scheduling deliveries. She would love to be hired by the next contractor.

With the clock steadily ticking down to the day when CDHD ends its involvement in senior nutrition a solution needs to be found sooner rather than later. We stand ready to help.
Dave Fotsch
Public Information Officer
Central District Health Department

From the Department of Full Disclosure: Mike Murphy = The Boise Picayune = Mike Murphy for Mayor

Meals on Wheels needs to morph into “fix dinner for your elderly or incapacitated neighbor and get a direct subsidy from the local government payable within a months time.”

We need to keep the Meals, but get rid of the Wheels.

EDITOR NOTE–The photo of the van in the photo was made in Boise. Agreed the drivers could easily be shifted. Don’t know if they use their own cars.