What U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn) termed the “starvation budget,” or President Donald Trump’s recently released proposal, would impair services for Meals on Wheels. This is an organization that provides free hot meal deliveries to impoverished and disabled Americans – many Black seniors and veterans.
The $3 billion Meals on Wheels program, started during the Ford administration and authorized through the “Older Americans Act,” gave states and cities flexibility in how they combat poverty. The program currently spends more than $200 million for home delivery services. Meals on Wheels services are provided directly to seniors by a nationwide network of 5,000 local community-run programs that receive 35 percent of their funding from the federal government, according to the organization’s website.
Meals on Wheels, a national home-delivery meals program, has helped some seniors manage their dietary needs as rates of malnutrition among the elderly population rises. (Jeff Gentner/AP)
“The problem with a skinny budget is it is lean on details. So, while we don’t know the exact impact yet, cuts of any kind to these highly successful and leveraged programs would be a devastating blow to our ability to provide much-needed care for millions of vulnerable seniors in America, which in turn saves billions of dollars in reduced healthcare expenses,” Ellie Hollander, president and CEO of Meals on Wheels America, said in a statement following the release of Trump’s budget.
But, Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, told “Meet the Press” on March 19, “Some of the stories are just either grossly wrong or nearly grossly wrong, all the stories about how we cut Meals on Wheels.”
Ward 7 resident Carrie Sands said she is particularly fearful of the proposed cuts and the impact they will have on her overall livelihood, especially with uncertainty surrounding rumored cuts by Trump to other social services programs.
“When you live on a fixed income, in a city where the costs of living constantly increases, it’s difficult to make money stretch – even when you scrimp and save,” Sands, a retired registered nurse, told the AFRO. “Meals on Wheels and the prescription drug program have been the only way for me to keep afloat over the last two years as the cost of my medications and utilities increased.”
Hollander said that with a shortfall of funds since 2005, Sands represents an increased group of people who would go unserved with the cuts. “The need is growing rapidly, and federal funding has not kept pace. The network is already serving 23 million fewer meals now than in 2005, and waiting lists are mounting in every state,” Hollander said. “At a time when increased funding is needed, we fear that the millions of seniors who rely on us every day for a nutritious meal, safety check, and visit from a volunteer will be left behind.”
Stephanie Archer-Smith, executive director of Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland, told WTOP radio that Trump’s administration believes programs like Meals on Wheels are not only costly, but ineffective; an accusation she called “infuriating.”
Programs in D.C. serve 6,900 seniors – with Meals on Wheels alone serving providing meals to more than 3,000 seniors in the region. “When you cut several thousand dollars from that, it means that people aren’t served and that meals aren’t being delivered,” Archer-Smith said. “For every $8 that we lose, that’s one more person, one more day, that hasn’t been served a meal.”