From our pre-pandemic service levels in 2019, the demand for services has increased 90%, now requiring 1.7 million meals per year for approximately 6,800 of Tarrant County’s frailest citizens. This increase has pushed our physical and financial resources to their limits. In order to maintain these high service levels, we must focus on creating sustainability by making strategic investments in our operational infrastructure.
A Core Social Service Agency for Tarrant County
Meals On Wheels of Tarrant County was established in 1973 to serve the homebound, elderly, disabled, and food-insecure residents of our community. By providing nourishing meals, professional case management, daily safety checks, and other wrap-around services[i], we immediately improve the overall health and well-being of those we serve.
Hunger is often the tip of the iceberg for those in need. Through our coordinated approach of eliminating hunger and addressing other physical and mental health and safety concerns, we have a proven record of helping clients to continue living independently in their own homes. Nutritious meals and ancillary services improve the health and well-being of the clients we serve, often eliminating trips to taxpayer-funded hospitals for preventable emergency care, especially for malnutrition, medication errors, and chronic health conditions such as diabetes and congestive heart failure, as well as long-term nursing care.
What began as a collaborative effort within the faith-based community in downtown Fort Worth to address senior hunger in the inner city has become one of the nation’s leading home-delivered meals programs. From humble beginnings, we now serve over 1.7 million meals per year to frail residents of Tarrant County.
Impact of COVID
Program and Service Offerings
The COVID pandemic has significantly impacted every aspect of our operation, from the number of clients we serve to our program and service offerings to the way we interact with our clients and the level of staffing required to administer these expanded services.
From the onset of the pandemic, many of our existing clients found themselves in need of additional assistance. Meals On Wheels of Tarrant County has historically provided a hot, noontime meal to every client as well as refrigerated breakfast and weekend meals to those with the greatest need. Often, friends, neighbors and family members provided an extra layer of support beyond the assistance provided by Meals On Wheels, but stay-at-home mandates, changes in employment, and social distancing requirements brought on by the pandemic diminished those safety nets, leaving most of our clients in need of additional assistance and socialization. Consequently, Meals On Wheels immediately began providing two meals per day to every client, resulting in a spike in the number of meals served to existing clients.
In addition, many seniors in the community who were barely getting by before the pandemic found themselves in desperate need of assistance. While some met the qualification criteria for our Home-Delivered Meals plan (homebound and physically or mentally unable to prepare meals for themselves), many did not. Meals On Wheels responded by teaming up with other social services agencies in Tarrant County to launch a new meal plan to meet this community need. Through our Supplemental Nutrition meal plan, we now offer a weekly delivery of frozen meals and fresh produce to those who can cook for themselves, but lack access to food.
When another social services agency decided to discontinue their congregate meals program, Meals On Wheels of Tarrant County immediately launched a new congregate meal plan at adult activity centers throughout Tarrant County to provide mobile adults with nutritious meals, transportation and much needed social interaction. As COVID variants impacted the availability of adult activity centers, a grab-and-go program at the centers was initiated to continue to provide nutritious meals to those mobile adults.
Now equipped with three different meal plans, our professional case managers can tailor a service plan to meet the individual needs of our clients, ensuring the most practical and productive outcome for those we serve.
Meal Production and Distribution
COVID has had a considerable impact on the way we produce and distribute meals. In order to adhere to social distancing guidelines recommended by the CDC, we have had to space out the workers in our central kitchen. Due to space constraints, much of the meal preparation was pushed into hallways outside the kitchen. Existing freezer and dry storage space has proven inadequate for the increased meal production resulting from the pandemic.
As part of our service interruption plan, we stockpiled over 35,000 shelf-stable meals to use in the event of a COVID outbreak in our kitchen. Without sufficient storage space, pallets of these meals were stored in conference rooms.
Following CDC safety protocols, we implemented mask and social distancing guidelines for all client interactions with volunteers and staff. While some volunteers applauded these efforts to protect clients, others refused to adhere to these new guidelines and resigned from their volunteer service. In addition, as COVID-positivity rates among volunteers and staff increased, it made it harder and harder to deliver meals in a timely manner.
Statistical Impacts as a Result of COVID
- Clients Served — At the onset of the pandemic, we served an average of 4,300 clients. In 2022, we will serve an average of 6,800 clients, a 58% increase in clients from our pre-pandemic level.
- Meals Served — In 2022, Meals On Wheels of Tarrant County will serve 1.7 million meals, a 90% increase from our pre-pandemic level.
- Staffing Increase — Staffing increased to 78 full-time employees needed to administer the programs and services at current levels. This represents a 67% increase in staffing from our pre-pandemic level.
- Budget Increase — Our budget has increased from $6.9 million in 2019 to $12.9 million in 2022 — a 90% increase from our pre-pandemic budget!
Current Need
The dramatic increase in the number of clients and meals served has stretched our physical and financial resources to their limits. It is essential that we focus on creating sustainability by making strategic investments in our infrastructure, especially a facility expansion.
With a 67% staffing increase, we have been forced to turn conference rooms into office space and struggle to find adequate workspaces for our employees in addition to social distancing considerations. In September 2021, we contracted Hahnfeld Hoffer & Stanford (HHS) — the original architects for the building — to conduct a comprehensive space utilization study to ensure we are utilizing the building to its full potential. HHS had only minor recommendations and determined that we are using the space as designed and have simply outgrown the facility. HHS representatives met with each department head to discuss the specific needs of each department in order to develop an expansion plan that will meet current and future growth needs.
In addition to lifesaving meals, we provide medication reconciliation services; nutrition education (helping clients manage chronic illness through their diet); companion pet meals; social interaction at adult activity centers; transportation; and our Client Assistance program through which we provide toiletries, adult incontinence supplies, medical equipment (wheelchairs, lift chairs, walkers, rollators, hospital beds, and much more), and minor home repairs to address health and safety hazards in the client’s home.