Introduction
This summer I had the opportunity to volunteer at a non-profit organization called LifeCare Alliance in Columbus, Ohio. LifeCare Alliance’s programs and services assist impoverished and medically challenged senor citizens in Franklin, Madison and Marion Counties. These various programs include Meals-on-Wheels, the Columbus Cancer Clinic, Project OpenHand-Columbus, Visiting Nurses, Senior Dining Centers, Senior Wellness Centers, Help-at-Home, Groceries-to-Go Pantry, IMPACT Safety, and Senior PetCare. The goal of the agency is to support clients in remaining independent while in the comfort of their own homes with dignity, where they want to be.
My volunteer experience was with the LifeCare program called Meals-On-Wheels. Each
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Model the Way
LifeCare Alliance’s overall mission is to “lead the community in identifying and delivering health and nutrition services to meet the community’s changing needs” (Lifecare, 2015). According to McDonald (2007), the mission of a nonprofit organization should satisfy needs that are inadequately met by private and profit organizations. There are many profit and private organizations in the central Ohio area that do not effectively cater to the needs of poor, inner-city senior citizens. It was evident that LifeCare Alliance’s Meals-On-Wheels Program modeled its mission by satisfying the needs of the impoverished, elderly adults who may go unrecognized by the Columbus city system. I was able to witness and assist this non-profit organization in fulfilling its mission by servicing food and friendly, warm interactions with the individuals in need throughout the Columbus area.
Meals-on-Wheels program helped satisfied the community’s changing needs by preparing meals geared towards special individuals. For example, some clients were vegetarians or needed kosher meals and our kitchen was able to supply them with their needs. They were also given a food item menu, which enabled clients to choose from many dinner entrée options.
Inspire a Shared Vision
The vision of LifeCare Alliance was inspired by Catherine and Nelson Black and organized to bring medical care and health education to the homes of the sick and underprivileged populations.
8,000,000 meals. Meals on Wheels of Wake County reached a milestone this year. We served our eight millionth meal to a 100 year old client who exemplifies the very reason why we deliver. Because of our service she has been able to remain living at home for almost 20 years. She, with all of our 1,300 clients, offers proof that the innovative and successful home meal delivery program that began in 1974 still rings true today. The simplicity of the program – the power of human contact and kindness when one person brings a meal to another in need - is what keeps the program so effective. Our important mission is achieved through a shared vision, hard work, and the generous support from our volunteers and donors.
This past summer, I acquired an internship at Baldwin and Lyons, an insurance company in Indianapolis. Every Wednesday during my internship, a couple of employees and I would participate in a prodigious community service project, Meals on Wheels. Throughout the three months that I worked at Baldwin and Lyons, I got acquainted with some of the individuals whom we delivered to. These inspiring individuals were so grateful and appreciative that we took time out of our day to volunteer to do such a service. One elderly woman who we delivered to would sing to us as she came to the front door “good meals, good meals, good meals.” She is one woman that I will never forget. First going into this, I was elated knowing I was I getting out of the
Meals on Wheels, an organization that feeds elderly who can’t feed themselves, is planned to get some of its funding cut off with the president’s new financial plan. Meals on Wheels has been feeding the unfortunate since the 1950’s (Carroll A10), leaving this organization to rely on public funding is not a solution to government spending. This organization improves the diets and lives of many elderly by giving them food for their specific needs, and giving them someone who comes and visits. Older people should not be just ignored, their resources are important too. This is grandparents and parents that need, or will need, this kind of help. President Trump can not pretend that the elderly are not people too,
Our country’s current economic crisis is drastically affecting not just individuals, but businesses and organizations as well, especially when it comes to those that are non-profit. Funding for necessary programs held by non-profit organizations, such as Moses Cone Behavioral Health, have been cut annually, making it more difficult for their institutions to prosper. Due to these substantial declines in donations and funds, local volunteers are needed now more than ever. I chose to volunteer at Moses Cone Behavioral Health Hospital to help combat this loss in funding.
I visited Meals on Wheels of Syracuse located just outside of downtown. This is facility is part of a nationwide organization which provides nutrition to homebound seniors. Some of the challenges faced by this population and therefore by this facility are participant health concerns and limitations. Many of the seniors who are enrolled in this program have health problems which include hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol. These medical concerns have associated dietary considerations that must be accommodated. Meals on Wheels (MOW) staff must be notified of these concerns, and make appropriate dietary adjustments to the foods that will be served to these individuals. Along with medical concerns, many seniors also face physical limitations which may include difficulty eating, swallowing, and properly digesting foods. These issues must also be considered by MOW staff.
As Meals on Wheels moves forward, we are working to be a smarter and leaner agency without compromising the vitality of our mission. Recent projections tell us that in X years? Wake County will experience 132% increase in the number of residents over 60 and will be in the top three counties in North Carolina with the highest number of 60+ residents. We need to continue to seek new funding and new ideas that will help us meet the growing number of senior adults in our
For the Service Learning Assignment, I decided to volunteer at Northwind Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. My current interest is working in the medical field that deals with babies. The service learning placement that best fit my schedule was Northwind Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. This organization works with mostly senior citizens that need special care at all times. There were times where individuals that were not senior citizens that came there because it is not strictly a nursing home. The residents are not able to care for themselves and need constant supervision to ensure their safety. Some of the resident may require physical therapy. My responsibilities was to interact with the different residents on each visit and complete
This community outreach program, focused on the elderly in our community, lines up with the heart of NBG’s mission; which is restoration of life
Naturally, one of the reasons I chose to perform service at this location is because they have weekly volunteer opportunities. Also, I decided to work with this organization because I’m very passionate about helping the community and those most in need. By providing people with a nourishing meal, it not only combats hunger and poverty in the city, but it also humanizes those who are often maltreated.
The New York Common Pantry is such a wonderful organization which is dedicated to reducing hunger throughout New York City while promoting dignity and self-sufficiency. They do this through an array of programs including Choice Pantry, where participants can select nutritious food packages to bring home and cook for their families; Hot Meals, where participants can come enjoy a warm breakfast and/or dinner most days of the week; and Nourish, which helps low-income seniors by supplementing their diets with nutritious foods. In their last fiscal year they served over 493K New Yorkers and distributed over 6 million meals!
Your records were well organized and information was easy to locate. Participant’s seemed pleased with the services they are receiving from Rocky Mount Meals on Wheels. Several participants, on the home-delivered route, commented on how much they enjoyed the meals. One participant stated, “these meals keep me out
Meals on Wheels programs are carefully regulated because of the potential danger of contamination of the food, so therefore “only licensed food preparers who meet both nutrition and sanitary standards set by state and federal regulations can provide the meals” (Wong & Meyer, 1993, p. 335). Meals must be maintained at the correct hot and cold temperatures and delivered within two hours of preparation. Typically, these programs use a centralized kitchen or shipping point. In Scioto County there are ten
I am currently fulfilling my passion as social work intern at Interfaith Ministries – Meals on Wheels (MOW) which is located on 3303 Main St. Houston TX. 77002. MOW has been around for many years assisting homebound older adults usually over the age of sixty with nutritional meals. MOW provides more than 4,300 meals in the Houston area. However MOW just recently expanded their routes to service some parts of Galveston. There are some eligible clients that qualify for additional meals such as breakfast, frozen weekend meals. I have noticed a higher population of Hispanic, African-American, and Caucasian clients, mostly in low poverty areas and have little-to-low income. There are many homebound clients that do not have social support and just
Interviewer: (53:12) I’ve also heard of this program, especially for the senior citizen population, training people who deliver through meals-on-wheels program?
Social service associations throughout New Zealand give the ‘Free Community Meal services’, essentially as a reaction to sustenance neediness. They are reliant on aids and intentional work and right now get no state financing. These suppers frequently pull in their actively present people in light of the fact that, dissimilar to numerous different manifestations of sustenance backing, there is no appraisal for qualification rather they are open to all participants. A circumstantial finding proposes that member 's essential inspirations for going to included mitigating food instability and also the open door for social contact. In spite of the fact that these imparted suppers give a space