Volunteers keep four area locations serving seniors
Here's an update to service changes in the Meals Plus for Seniors program.
As a result of a dwindling budget, the program was forced to close a number of meal sites April 1.
The rest of the kitchens and meal sites set for closure are shutting their doors today.
We wanted to know how these changes are going over with seniors and staff in the program.
We talked with Lynn Niewohner, who directs Meals Plus. She says that the seniors have been surprisingly resilient throughout the transition period. Many of them have commented that they like the frozen meal service just as well, if not better than they did before.
And the Quincy Meal Center has seen the number of seniors they serve jump from 140 a day to 200 in recent weeks. "I've been doing this a long time. And there's one thing I've learned, it's that seniors are resilient, they're intelligent, and they're open minded about what they have to do to get things done,'' said Niewohner. "And that's basically what's happened. Lots of people working together."
Niewohner says that some of the volunteers at threatened meal sites have been able to keep them open. Those sites include Hamilton, Carthage, Versailles and Browning.
And in a surprise move, Pike County will vote April 18 to allow Meals Plus to conduct a month-long meal site trial in Pittsfield.