Since George
Michael's death at age 53 this past week (truly his “Last Christmas”),
I’ve been listening to this bootleg cassette tape of his addictive pop music when
he was part of the duo Wham! I remembered Wham! made history as the
first Western pop group to perform in China in 1985, which was captured in their “Freedom” video, as well as their “Foreign Skies” documentary. Those images made me
nostalgic for pre-1989 China, where I did my study abroad at Peking and Fudan
universities: the lack of bourgeois vanity in make-up
free faces and utilitarian Mao suits;
moving qi via martial arts and
bicycling; all ages occupying public places, etc. Interestingly, I was the only Chinese
participant in a mostly Jewish group (also Maoist/Marxist sympathizers) led by
intellectual property expert Peter Jaszi of The American University, when I
bought this copyright infringement tape (Made in China)! Growing
up during the harshness of Reaganomics and the rise of homelessness,
China’s socialist safety net was appealing ... if only it could exist with political freedom!
Make It
Big (just like 1980s Wham! George Michael J) hair and skirt (useful for squat toilets) … at the end of my China study abroad, I visited my mum's elderly aunt and uncle in Hong Kong .
Since the
outcome of last month’s election, many clients have reported anxiety,
depression and stress (—but no memory loss!) over the future of disability rights and safety net programs (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) under Republican control of the
Presidency and both houses of Congress. I
cheerfully remind clients of our San Francisco bubble: Proposition I aka Dignity Fund passed,
which means increased funding for home and community based services for seniors
and people with disabilities!
I thought about the wisdom of 67-year-old Carolyn Davidson, who took a part-time job at a senior center following her retirement 5 years ago after decades as a social worker supporting older adults. When her skin cancer diagnosis and treatment last year prevented her from working, her financial resources were strained:
I thought about the wisdom of 67-year-old Carolyn Davidson, who took a part-time job at a senior center following her retirement 5 years ago after decades as a social worker supporting older adults. When her skin cancer diagnosis and treatment last year prevented her from working, her financial resources were strained:
“Retirement has left her on a fixed monthly income of $1,088 from Social
Security, which suits her just fine. She also
receives $194 in food stamps and gets help from a local food pantry operated by
Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens , one of
the eight organizations supported by The
New York Times Neediest Cases Fund…
Because Ms. Davidson’s income disqualified her from receiving
traditional Medicaid, she had to enroll in a
reduced Medicaid plan for higher earners and has had to use her own money to
pay off portions of medical bills. After paying her $663 monthly rent and more
in utilities, she has only $389 remaining each month to pay for everything else
and any unexpected costs.
In April, she received a
hospital bill for $239. She could not afford it. The debt halted her Medicaid
benefits.”
--A ‘Do It’ Kind of Woman Waits for the Strength to Get Back to Being Herself, The New York Times (December 20, 2016)
Fortunately,
as an experienced geriatric social worker, Ms. Davidson was able to secure relief
from a charitable organization, allowing her Medicaid plan to resume. She also avoided bankruptcy, though she
experienced the top 3 reasons why people go bankrupt:
unexpected medical expenses, reduction of income and job loss. As Ms. Davidson told The New York Times, “There are so many
things that seniors don’t know they are eligible for, it’s ridiculous.”
As late Bob Marley, paraphrasing Matthew 16:26,
sang in Zion’s Train: “Don't gain the world and lose your soul,
Wisdom is better than silver and gold” (mural from Haight Central Market)
Retirement
in old age is associated with freedom to live at home and to do what one wants,
especially if one has deferred gratification from years in the workplace. But at any age, lack of income limits this freedom
of choice … or one needs to be very resourceful to access opportunities.
Freedom to age in place
In mostly capitalist U.S.A., income and health (or ability to carry out activities of daily living) often determine where and how one can age in place.
With my
work focused on home visits to homebound seniors, in a non-profit that limits
training during work hours since focus is on production quantity, my world gets smaller like my clients... so I continually make efforts to attend
training/networking events outside of work hours to learn tips and resources available
to my clients and future self (as aspiring older adult). One advantage of these meetings held in
evenings/weekends is the availability of food and refreshments!
In mostly capitalist U.S.A., income and health (or ability to carry out activities of daily living) often determine where and how one can age in place.
SFSU
Gerontology Class of 2014 had mini-reunion on-campus (1/3 of class pictured above with popular Professor Brian De Vries) at this month’s Gerontology Celebration
honoring classmate Raenika Butler, who was inspired by the work of late African-American
gerontologist George W. Davis,
and works as Executive Assistant to his partner, Cathy Davis, Executive
Director at Bayview-Hunters Point Multipurpose Senior Services (BHPMSS). In June 2016, they helped realize Dr. Davis’
vision of an “Aging Campus” with the grand opening of Dr. George W. Davis Senior Center and Residence, including 121 units of low-income senior housing. Over 4,000 applications were submitted; seniors age 62+, with income of $35,700 or less per year, pay rent at 30% of their income. Mary Schleeter and Diane Houlton, classmates who
founded Aging Plan-It, commuted from Sacramento
Freedom to eat
The growing diet divide between rich and poor has been attributed
to food cost, time cost, and heavy marketing of junk/fast food to low-income
people. Convenience food manufacturers have come between eaters and
the kitchen, so TV dinners and microwaveable meals replace home cooking.
In “The Symbiotic Relationship Between
Oral Health, Nutrition, and Aging,” published in ASA’s Generations Fall 2016 issue, Ronni Chernoff wrote about the role
of on-demand meal services in promoting food security, from Meals on
Wheels to food delivery apps.
At Home With Growing Older’s forum on Food on the Table–Aging in Place
featured Chief Government Affairs Officer Anne Quaintance of high touch, non-profit (one of the highest ranked charities in the Bay Area,
according to Charity Navigator)
Meals on Wheels San Francisco (MOWSF), and Marketing Manager Clare O’Brien of high
tech, for-profit UberEATS.
The presentations and ensuing discussions were a real commentary
on our growing digital divide (UberEATS users who have smart phones to use app
v. some MOWSF clients who don’t even have phones) and income inequality (UberEATS
users can afford minimum $4.99 delivery charge v. some MOWSF clients can’t afford
suggested contribution of $5 daily for 2 subsidized home-delivered meals).
While Uber has partnered with healthcare providers to enable Americans (or 70% of Americans age 65+) without smartphones to access ride hailing services, this is not yet an option at UberEATS. Audience also raised concerns about Uber’s contribution to traffic congestion (no less its controversial driverless cars running red lights) in San Francisco. Last year, Uber partnered with AARP's Life Reimagined to recruit older drivers with safer driving records, yet only 23% of Uber drivers are age 50+.
While Uber has partnered with healthcare providers to enable Americans (or 70% of Americans age 65+) without smartphones to access ride hailing services, this is not yet an option at UberEATS. Audience also raised concerns about Uber’s contribution to traffic congestion (no less its controversial driverless cars running red lights) in San Francisco. Last year, Uber partnered with AARP's Life Reimagined to recruit older drivers with safer driving records, yet only 23% of Uber drivers are age 50+.
Anne emphasized that MOW delivers more than a meal (“nourishing
the whole person”) – relationships that support a client’s ability to live
safely at home. MOWSF actually knows their
3,600+ clients (who are subject to social work and nutrition assessments):
92% are age 60+ and 75% live below poverty. (For more about food justice, check out blog post about my participation in Oxfam’s Hunger Banquet moderated by Anne.) In contrast, UberEATS is transaction-based, eat anything
you can have restaurant made-to-order, so it doesn’t collect data on users
(nice for folks who value their privacy), but relies on third-party research
firm to estimate 6% of UberEATS users are age 65+.
Anne with MOWSF Social Work Supervisor Lara Medvedeva and Department
of Aging & Adult Services (DAAS) Nutritionist Linda Lau. MOWSF provides 85% of the home-delivered meals
funded by DAAS!
Freedom to dodge Xmas
During Christmastime, articles galore are published about lonely seniors during this holiday season. This year, National Association of Area
Agencies on Aging (n4a) and AARP partnered on a campaign, "Home for the Holidays," to raise awareness about loneliness among the elderly during the holiday season,
combating stigma while providing tips and resources to stay connected and
engaged. Age UK has a similar campaign, “No one should have no one at Christmas,” providing befriending services with volunteers who visit or make calls to seniors feeling lonely.
Given the wonderful diversity
of San Francisco’s senior population,
some of my
homebound clients don’t seem affected by more loneliness during this particular
holiday season, especially those who don’t buy into this commercial pagan holiday, but find it
particularly alienating like Puritans who banned Xmas in the New World. And I
have other clients with profound forgetfulness such that they always seem oblivious
to time and thus have no expectation/pressure of imposed merriment, gluttony,
gift exchanges, etc.
In past years, I would escape the commercial
holiday season by flying to a developing country too poor for mass
consumerism. Then starting last year,
I volunteered at Kung Pao Kosher Comedy, 3 nights of Jewish stand-up comedy in
an American-Chinese restaurant with proceeds benefiting non-profit
organizations, such as Legal Assistance to the Elderly (last year) and JFCS
Seniors at Home (this year).
Lisa and Volunteer Macher
Shani Heckman on stage for raffle drawing before full house of all ages and
mostly Jewish at Chinese restaurant... almost felt like my China study abroad experience J! All 3 nights, both 7-course banquet dinner & dim sum cocktail shows,
completely sold out! This year’s
comedians included aging and grandma jokes by headliner Elayne Boosler, Eddie
Sarfaty (writer of video short, Second Guessing Grandma)
and Alex Edelman.
Sunie Levin, author of Make New Friends...Live Longer: A Guide for Seniors (2010), said Seniors need chutzpah: "Yes, I can. Why not? What's to lose by trying?"
25th Annual Kung Pao Kosher Comedy scheduled Dec. 23-25, 2017!
25th Annual Kung Pao Kosher Comedy scheduled Dec. 23-25, 2017!
To my homebound clients unable to attend Kung
Pao Kosher Comedy, I recommend ordering take-out from Chinese restaurants that
offer free delivery—cut out the middle guy (UberEATS) and tip the restaurant
driver, instead! Then, sing-along to Darlene Love’s “Christmastime for the Jews” (named one of the greatest rock & roll
Christmas songs by Rolling Stone). Other suggestions: Wham! playlist and Woody Allen DVDs from SFPL Books by Mail.
An Interview with George Michael’s Biggest Fan: My Mom
ReplyDeleteTHURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2017
BY: ROBERT STEINER
2016 may go down in infamy as the year the music got a little quieter. We lost an unbelievable about of superstars and legends, and unfortunately, we lost another one right before the year ended: George Michael, the 1980s teen idol and world-class pop legend, sadly passed away Christmas Day at the age of 53. While I could've found a number of ways to honor the late singer, I decided to turn to someone who knows his work much better than I do, and who is probably the biggest George Michael super-fan I know: My mom, Ana. I chatted with my mom about Wham!, fangirling over George, and how she would like to personally remember the 80s music icon.
Robert Steiner: When did you become a fan of George Michael?
Mom: I became a fan with "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," so with Wham!the difference: When I saw Wham! on MTV, I just fell in love with George Michael. I thought he was the most beautiful person I had ever seen in my life! …
RS: What was so appealing about him?
Mom: He was beautiful! He was just so wonderful. Like when he danced in the little shorts! And it was all very bubble-gum at first. I mean you watch the video for "Wake Me Up," and it's so happy. Let me tell you: I was a senior in high school when that song came out. It was light and fluffy, like having cheesecake. I mean the reality is that it was also hormonal; I just thought he was the most beautiful thing ever. "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a great song, and it's probably my favorite song. There are others that I like, but if he wasn't as beautiful as he was, I don't think I would've cared as much!
…these were difficult times, but Wham!'s music was so happy! And this is key: Because the lyrics are so simple, even those of us with English as a second language could easily sing along.
RS: So tell me a little bit about seeing Wham! live in concert.
Mom: I went to their concert in Oakland, by Lake Merritt. It was my first concert ever, because I loved [George] so much I had to go. Oh my god, it was awesome. I was already a freshman at Cal, and I cannot tell you what I ate yesterday, but I can tell you I still remember walking down Shattuck Ave feeling so excited… When the concert started, the crowd was all teen girls, little girls, and there was just screaming and it was awesome…
RS: So how did you feel when George Michael went solo and started moving away from that "bubblegum" image?
Mom: The reality is that I kind of grew up with him. I guess one way of putting it is that for some of us of that age group, our sexuality developed with George Michael.
RS: Is this totally necessary to get into?
Mom: What? We're having an interview, this is professional. So I went from having a high school crush to evolving as he evolved, like the way he evolved in the videos and so on. That was also my progression. Now, did I know that he was gay? Of course I knew he was gay. I mean, if I had lived in Nebraska, I probably wouldn't have figured that one out, but let's get real: I lived in San Francisco in the 80s…
RS: How are you going to personally remember George Michael?
Mom: When I think of me at my high school age, the innocent child that I was, I wanna remember him as "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," bouncy and fluffy and bubblegum-ish. If I wanna think about my twenties, and the realization of sexuality, I want to remember him in "Faith," with the tight jeans and the shirt and the leather, I mean he was beautiful. And as a 50-year-old woman, I'll tell you, I just love that duet he did with Aretha Franklin. I think it's a beautiful piece of music.
RS: So there's something to love for any age?
Yeah, but George Michael is the 80s. He'll always represent the 80s for me.
http://www.baeblemusic.com/musicblog/1-19-2017/an-interview-with-george-michaels-biggest-fan-my-mom.html
Health care is a civil right
ReplyDeleteBy Jessie Lorenz on February 12, 2017 1:00 am
When I was in the third grade, a boy named Nestor was added to my school who, like me, was born blind. He was put in my class, even though he was a year younger and had never been to school before, because of our blindness. Before then, he had, in effect, been hidden away from society and had spent much of his life sitting in a chair listening to the radio — something my mother, in contrast, always refused to let me do. My mother’s insistence that I be active was actually quite unusual in those days. The way Nestor’s parents raised him was more the norm. People just didn’t know what to do with kids like us.
Disability rights advocate, Amber DiPietra defines ableism as, “Dozens of small, often subconscious assumptions, that are made about people with disabilities. The assumptions create the limits, instead of the other way around.” Rather than being expected to contribute to society as active, engaged citizens and workers, many people with disabilities are raised with a sense that we will forever remain part of a permanent “dependent class.” We have largely been seen as a commodity to be exploited — our needs parasitically considered through the lens of the profit they might produce, via skilled nursing facilities and supportive housing, for example. Non-disabled people often have a patronizing habit of viewing people with disabilities as monolithically weak and in need of care, while simultaneously arranging society to best exploit our needs.
But the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990 because thousands of tough-as-nails folks with disabilities got together and demanded that they be treated as equals. Thanks to what I like to call “the ADA generation,” today’s disability community is better educated than ever, and eager to work. The opportunities provided by new technologies and expanding access are forcing society to come face to face with the reality that having a disability is, in itself, not an impediment to living a full, productive life. Restricted access to supports and services, including affordable health care, is.
Consider the fact that the landmark Affordable Care Act mandated that there be mental health and physical disability parity in coverage. As a result, there was a huge group of people — folks with bipolar disorder who need medications, for example — who were suddenly eligible for coverage through the open marketplace making it possible for people with disabilities to work and have their healthcare needs met, without relying on public benefits to survive. The ACA allowed many people to leave the social safety net and go to work, some for the first time. If the ACA is repealed, what will these people do? The answer is obvious: people with disabilities will be forced to “stay poor” and jobless in order to get public benefits, and, like Nestor, will be relegated back to our chairs and radios at home.
The truth is, health care is a civil right and until we treat it as such, we’ll be ensuring that a great many people never reach their full potential…
Despite our progress, people with disabilities remain among the most disenfranchised in our society. The question is whether we will continue widening access for all people in our quest to build a more perfect union, or whether we will allow our rights to be rolled back as the elite consolidate their powers at the expense of people with disabilities. These are dire times and much hangs in the balance. Persistent public pressure is our best tool in fighting outrageous attacks like these. Please join me by contacting your representatives today to speak up for the Affordable Care Act.
Jessie Lorenz is executive director of the Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/health-care-civil-right/
Meals On Wheels Wants To Be The ‘Eyes and Ears’ For Hospitals, Doctors
ReplyDeleteBy Anna Gorman
January 9, 2017
…Meals on Wheels is undergoing a dramatic overhaul as government and philanthropic funding fails to keep pace with a rapidly growing elderly population. The increased demand has resulted in lengthy waitlists and a need to find other sources of funding. And at the same time, for-profit companies such as Mom’s Meals are creating more competition.
Meals on Wheels, which has served seniors for more than 60 years through a network of independent nonprofits, is trying to formalize the health and safety checks its volunteers already conduct during their daily home visits to seniors. Through an ongoing campaign dubbed “More Than a Meal,” the organization hopes to demonstrate that it can play a critical role in the health care system.
“We know we are keeping people out of the hospital,” Case said. “Seven dollars a day is cheaper than $1,300 a day.”
Meals on Wheels America and several of the local programs around the country have launched partnerships with insurers, hospitals and health systems. By reporting to providers any physical or mental changes they observe, volunteers can help improve seniors’ health and reduce unnecessary emergency room visits and nursing home placements, said Ellie Hollander, CEO of Meals on Wheels America.
“It’s a small investment for a big payoff,” Hollander said.
Studies conducted by Brown University researchers have shown that meal deliveries can help elderly people stay out of nursing homes, reduce falls and save states money.
Kali Thomas, an assistant professor at Brown University School of Public Health, estimated that if all states increased the number of older people receiving the meals by 1 percent, they would save more than $100 million. Research also has shown that the daily meal deliveries helped seniors’ mental health and eased their fears of being institutionalized.
Meals on Wheels can be the “eyes and ears” for health providers, especially in the case of seniors who are ill and don’t have family nearby, said Thomas, who authored several studies of the organization.
…Visitors from Meals on Wheels are the only people some seniors see all day. The volunteers get to know them and can quickly recognize problems.
“You notice if they are losing weight, if their house is a mess, if they are talking awkwardly,” said Chris Baca, executive director of Meals on Wheels West in Santa Monica. “Our wellness check is critical and almost as important as the food itself.”
The meal delivery and in-home visits also reduce isolation among residents, said Zia Agha, chief medical officer for West Health, which has organizations that provide and study senior services. Agha said that while numerous high-tech gadgets are available to keep an eye on seniors, they can’t replace a volunteer’s human touch.
Meals on Wheels, Brown University and the West Health Institute recently launched a two-year project in six states to formally build health and safety screenings into daily meal deliveries. The goal is to improve seniors’ health and catch problems early.
“The fact that you don’t have resources to feed yourself or you are so frail you can’t cook is a very big marker that you are going to have high health care utilization,” Agha said. “There is value in targeting these clients through this meal delivery service.”
That’s also what Meals on Wheels America is planning to do in a new partnership with Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland. The project aims to keep seniors at home and reduce their need for costly health services after hospitalization. The idea is to have trained volunteers report red flags and ensure, for example, that patients with congestive heart failure are weighing themselves regularly and eating properly…
http://californiahealthline.org/news/meals-on-wheels-wants-to-be-the-eyes-and-ears-for-hospitals-doctors/
Meals on Wheels recipients see results White House doesn’t
ReplyDeleteBy Steve Rubenstein
Friday, March 17, 2017
He was watching TV on Thursday when White House budget director Mick Mulvaney explained in Washington, D.C., that Meals on Wheels was one of the programs targeted to lose funding in President Trump’s proposed budget. The program, Mulvaney said, is “not showing any results” and the government “can’t spend money on programs just because they sound good.”
Drees said he felt his jaw drop. The results from Meals on Wheels, he said, were right there in his lap. Take a look, he said. Salmon, tandoori chicken, carrot salad, spinach and the St. Patrick’s Day special of corned beef. It will see him through the weekend. He’ll eat everything, even the carrot salad, though he doesn’t particularly like it and never has.
Meals on Wheels is under fire, he said, and everyone has to do his part.
“Trump is hitting me where I live,” Drees said. “He’s hitting me in my broccoli. What kind of results does he want me to show? I’m here. Is my survival that averse to them?’’
In a worst-case scenario, the San Francisco program could lose up to $3 million of its $14 million annual funding through federal cuts, Meals on Wheels spokesman Karl Robillard said. While such cuts would not doom the program, he said it would alter it.
“It’s going to get really ugly — we’ll have to play a game of ‘Survivor’ and start kicking people off the island,” Robillard said.
Meanwhile, a few doors down the hall from Drees at the Ambassador, John Behenna, 66, got his weekend meal delivery, too.
“Without this, I’d have to go to St. Anthony’s Dining Room and I can’t really do that,” he said, referring to a soup kitchen on Golden Gate Avenue. “I’m blind and I have diabetes. This program is not a waste. Without it, a lot of people would die and I could be one of them. Don’t these people understand?”
Drees and Behenna are two of the 3,600 clients served by Meals on Wheels in San Francisco, which last year delivered 1.7 million meals to seniors and others who cannot cook or otherwise feed themselves. The San Francisco organization is one of about 5,000 Meals on Wheels programs nationwide that could be hurt by a proposed 18 percent cut in the Health and Human Services budget and the proposed elimination of federal block grants.
Drees’ broccoli and the rest of his delivered meal had been prepared at the main Meals on Wheels kitchen in the city’s Bayview district, where workers were stunned by the news coming out of Washington.
“Everybody’s going to need us some day,” said Joyce Vaughn, who was loading apples, bread and cheese into lunch bags. “Even budget directors. He’s a senior himself,” she said of Mulveney.
…The national Meals on Wheels program is a nonprofit organization that began in 1976, although several local branches started earlier. Its mission is to “improve the health and quality of life so that no one is left hungry or isolated.” Nationwide it serves 2.4 million clients.
“The support for our program has been coming out of the woodwork since Thursday,” said Dave Linnell, program officer for the San Francisco Meals on Wheels. “People realize how important we are.”
About half of the annual $14 million budget in San Francisco comes from private donations, including from clients, and half from government grants. The program spends 82 percent of that amount to pay for food and delivery. The rest pays for fundraising and for management salaries.
Any short-term savings could be insignificant compared to the long-term cost of letting people in need go hungry. Preparing and delivering the meals cost about $12 per person per day, according to Robillard. The cost of a day’s care in a nursing home — where many clients might otherwise end up — is about 25 times as much.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Meals-on-Wheels-recipients-see-results-White-11010650.php
March 18, 2017, 1:23 a.m. EDT
ReplyDeleteThis is how much it costs ‘Meals on Wheels’ to feed one elderly person for a year
How President Trump’s ‘skinny’ budget blueprint could impact meal delivery services
By Quentin Fottrell, MarketWatch
Among the services that could be impacted under President Trump’s budget proposals: Meals on Wheels.
The administration’s proposed cuts target the Department of Housing and Urban Development and call for the elimination of the $3 billion Community Development Block Grant, which helps fund programs including Meals on Wheels, which deliver food (and human interaction) to elderly, disabled and poor recipients. “The federal government has spent over $150 billion on this block grant since its inception in 1974, but the program is not well-targeted to the poorest populations and has not demonstrated results,” the budget proposal states. “The budget devolves community and economic development activities to the state and local level, and redirects federal resources to other activities.”
“Meals on Wheels America,” one such national meal delivery program, says the organization can provide meals for senior citizens for one year for roughly the same cost as just one day in a hospital. The annual meal cost is $2,765 for 250 days (while the cost of one day in the hospital is around $2,271, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, private operating foundation based in Menlo Park, Calif.). “Meals on Wheels People,” a Portland, Ore.-based service and one of the largest in the country, says it costs $2,500 annually to provide daily meals to a homebound senior, while cost of institutional care for a year in Oregon is around $60,000.
But not all “Meals on Wheels” organizations will be impacted in the same way under Trump’s budget proposals. “Meals on Wheels is not a national organization,” says Julie Piper Finley, a spokeswoman for “Meals on Wheels People” in Portland and one of the largest meal delivery organizations in the country. “Meals on Wheels” is a catch-all phrase to describe these services. What’s more, that organization doesn’t receive HUD funding, she says. “Meals on Wheels Programs & Services of Rockland” in New York, however, received a Community Development Block Grant of $25,000 for its home-bound meal delivery program for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
The White House says many of these programs are not cost effective, however. “The president said he was going to go after wasteful programs, duplicative programs, programs that simply don’t work, and a lot of those are in HUD,” Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget within the Executive Office of the president, told reporters. “We’ve spent a lot of money on Housing and Urban Development over the last decades without a lot to show for it. Certainly, there are some successes, but there’s a lot of programs that simply cannot justify their existence, and that’s where we zeroed in.”
Some organizations say cuts to these kinds of meal programs will hurt the most needy: namely, the elderly, in this case, and children. “The administration’s proposed cuts to nondefense discretionary spending would touch on programs and services that many Americans turn to every day,” the Center for American Progress, a left-wing Washington, D.C. think tank, said in a statement. “Everything would be under threat, from Head Start for young kids, Meals on Wheels for seniors, and legal services for low-income families to post offices and funding for victims of domestic violence.”
http://www.marketwatch.com/(S(rnrsydaynixa5x55oiibxm45))/story/this-is-how-much-it-costs-meals-on-wheels-to-feed-one-elderly-person-for-a-year-2017-03-16
Meals on Wheels panic: Good intentions don't validate bad information
ReplyDeleteMary Schmich
MARCH 17, 2017
No, the president's proposed budget would not kill Meals on Wheels.
You've probably read headlines and social media posts in the past couple of days that said otherwise…
There was the headline on the Occupy Democrats website: "Trump Just Announced Plan To End Funding For 'Meals On Wheels' For Seniors." The story described it as "a popular program facing elimination."
Several prominent websites, including msn.com, ran the headline: "Trump's Budget Would Kill a Program That Feeds 2.4 Million Senior Citizens."
Kill. Feeds. Seniors. Those are potent words.
…But the claim doesn't quite add up.
There are plenty of reasons to fear and protest the president's proposed budget. The plan is likely to hurt … But there's no evidence it's going to kill Meals on Wheels.
And yet Meals on Wheels quickly became the rallying point in the protest against the budget's sweeping awfulness.
Why?
For starters, there are those overblown headlines and stories, like the one from the Dallas TV station that reported Meals on Wheels would lose "all of its federal funding."
That's false. At the same time, the truth is complicated.
True: The proposed budget would eliminate a federal block grant program that provides money to states. That's the budget cut that stirred up the storm. A little of the program's money goes to Meals on Wheels.
Also true: The network of local Meals on Wheels providers gets most of its federal money — 35 percent of its budget — from a different program. The program also is targeted for Trump's cuts, but it's not going away.
Also true: Meals on Wheels gets significant money from sources outside the federal government. Losing a portion of its federal funds would be a heavy blow, but that's not the same as being killed.
I oppose almost everything this president stands for, and I, too, was startled by the Meals on Wheels death alarm when I first heard it. … I went searching for verification.
Hmm. The New York Times hadn't reported it in such stark terms. Snopes, the fact-checking website, rated the claim as a mix of true and false.
And the widespread claim that the White House budget director said Meals on Wheels was "just not showing results"? After watching the video of the press briefing, I agree with the Washington Post's fact checker who wrote on Friday, "it appears his comments have been misinterpreted."
But the early, hyped headlines made instant believers out of many people, and Meals on Wheels — a worthy cause with a pithy name — made easy shorthand for the broader cruelties of the new budget.
…Stories were traded of what Meals on Wheels means to so many of us.
…Meals on Wheels has taken on such symbolic power: Here's a cause millions of us can connect with. Not everyone would empathize with the homeless, but the recipients of Meals on Wheels? They look like our parents and grandparents. They are our parents and grandparents.
…I heard tales of the program's great volunteers and appreciative recipients. I was going to add my story, how in the final weeks of the life of an old woman I loved, the highlight of her day was the 11 a.m. arrival of the Meals on Wheels man. She perked up when she saw his van pull into the driveway, and though the food wasn't great, it was warm, and the deliveryman's daily appearance was a bright spot in her dimming world.
I still want to tell that story. It's a reminder that there are people who need our collective help, that Meals on Wheels is one of the services that provides it. The need for it is growing…
But when we protest, we're more effective when we're clear on what we're talking about…
There is, however, some good to come from the confusion.
Donations to Meals on Wheels and volunteer sign-ups are reported to be surging.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/schmich/ct-mary-schmich-meals-on-wheels-20170317-column.html
Ride along with Meals on Wheels
ReplyDeletePublished on Apr 5, 2017
The San Francisco Examiner spent a day with the Meals on Wheels team as they delivered meals to seniors and other residents in need of service in San Francisco’s Bayview District Thursday, March 23, 2017. http://www.sfexaminer.com/riding-along-meals-wheels/
President Donald Trump’s recent federal budget proposal has threatened to cut funding to services such as Meals on Wheels, leaving the nonprofit with an uncertain future and customers with anxiety of what's to come. Video by Jessica Christian.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDM5lXqVI04