LONGMONT MEALS ON WHEELS INC
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Mission Statement
The mission of Longmont Meals on Wheels is to serve our community by promoting client health and independence through good nutrition and social interaction, allowing participants to stay self-sufficient in their own homes.
About This Cause
LMOW's principle program, comprising 91% of its operations last year, is to provide ready-to-eat home-delivered meals to older people who are at risk of malnutrition because they have difficulty getting food. In addition to food insecurity, LMOW's clients find themselves isolated because they must rely on others to visit them or take them out of their homes. (In fact, 70% of homebound clients reported leaving the house once a week or less, and 17% leave monthly or less.) The program strives to address both issues: LMOW prepares healthy meals that meet or exceed all nutritional guidelines and fulfill many special-diet needs. They offer the meal on a sliding-fee scale. They recruit volunteers to deliver the food to clients' homes. Clients look forward to this daily wellness check because it offers them human contact and less isolation. Further, LMOW's volunteers are trained to observe our older neighbors for signs of changes that may indicate an emergency or declining health. In 2023 LMOW served 104,789 meals to 844 unduplicated homebound clients. Last year LMOW served 15 people over 95 and three people over the age of 100, helping them remain self-sufficient and in their own homes! Longmont Meals on Wheels also provides community lunches at the Longmont Senior Center, for A Day Place, an adult day facility and for Lunch Bunch, a dementia-friendly lunch group. The meal allows older individuals to receive the nutrition they need and gives them the opportunity for community and socialization, which in turn, helps them to stay physically and mentally active and self-sufficient. In 2023 LMOW served an additional 10,577 community meals to an additional 488 unduplicated clients. New in 2023, LMOW began offering a new pay structure for its community meals. Mondays and Tuesdays were free, and Wednesdays-Fridays were $2 and offered a salad bar. LMOW clients need proper nutrition to maintain their physical health and a daily visit to relieve their isolation. Research consistently shows how important it is for elderly to eat healthy food. One in 13 Colorado seniors faces food insecurity, making it the only demographic that has not returned to its pre-Great-Recession levels. (This represents food insecurities due to financial difficulties only.) Moreover, while the fraction of older folks facing food insecurity declined from the previous year, the total number of seniors facing food insecurity continues to grow. (State of Hunger in America in 2020) Older adults are particularly vulnerable to the negative impact of inadequate nutrition, even those that are moderately food insecure. In fact, being marginally food insecure is equivalent to being 14 years older in terms of daily living limitations. Older people without proper nutrition also have an increased risk of heart attack, asthma and congestive heart failure. (NFESH Aug '17 (2)) Similarly, seniors experiencing chronic loneliness have more problems with daily living tasks, more depression symptoms and increased numbers of doctors' visits. (AJPH May '15) LMOW works to ensure that no senior goes hungry in Longmont and Niwot, clients benefit from proper nutrition to maintain their physical health and a daily visit to relieve their isolation. The issue identified 55 years ago is essentially the same problem today - isolated older people need human contact, help with food and to be checked on. It is even more critical now for two reasons: First, the senior population is growing. Not only is the county aging but also moving to the eastern parts of Boulder County, making Longmont home to the largest population of older adults in this county, a population that will increase 46% between 2020 and 2030. By contrast, the state will see a 37% increase for the same period. (Boulder County TRENDS; State Demography Office) Particularly, seniors in greater financial stress are moving from other parts of the county to Longmont. Second, most people did not anticipate the rising costs of medical care. Too many older people are faced with having to choose between medical care and basic needs. The aging population consumes a disproportionately high portion of healthcare costs, particularly in the use of nursing-care facilities. These facilities may become necessary, but their overuse is documented. The Human Services Alliance of Boulder County estimates that the average monthly cost of a nursing-care facility is $4,375. The per-month cost of essential services to support independent living, however, ranges from $284 to $2,570. LMOW is part of this network that supports independence and the health of seniors and saves families and the health-care system significant costs. Locally, too many seniors simply cannot afford proper nutrition.Too many seniors simply cannot afford proper nutrition. Depending on what a client can afford to pay, the average fee income per meal with additional support services is $1.60, but it costs $9.43 per meal with additional services for the agency. (In an effort to be as transparent as possible, this is total agency expenses divided by total meals served.) LMOW helps make staying in the home a viable option for many elders. Because more older people and their families are recognizing this and because the population of seniors in Longmont is growing, LMOW's home-delivered meals are only becoming more essential to the mission of Longmont Meals on Wheels and the health of the community.