Pandemic-relief funding cuts are forcing Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County to reduce services, including meal deliveries, leaving many older adults at risk. NBC 5’s Alicia Barrera has more.
Many programs for older adults funded through the Area Agencies on Aging face tough decisions following budget cuts.
“…Programs that receive funding through the Older Americans Act (OAA) had their revenues reduced as of October 2024. They, and the Area Agencies on Aging that fund them, benefited from pandemic-relief funding that expired September 30, 2024,” Doni Green, director of aging programs for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said in a statement to NBC 5.
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WATCH HEREWhile base funding remains the same, supplemental funding offered during the pandemic recently came to an end.
“The continuing resolution that was passed last Friday funded OAA programs at the same level as the prior fiscal year. Thus, base funding has not been reduced. However, the loss of supplemental pandemic-relief funding has resulted in substantial cuts,” Green said.
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SIGN UP The OAA offers essential aging services for adults, including job training, fall prevention, and nutrition services such as Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County. The act also empowers the federal government to distribute funds to the states for supportive services for individuals over the age of 60.
“We're looking at a cut of probably about $1.5 million, and that was through a AAA Area Agency on Aging,” Philip Gonzalez said. Gonzalez is the marketing and communications manager for Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County.
While the organization works to find another avenue to make up that deficit, clients have already noticed the difference.
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“We used to deliver breakfast every day, and because of funding cuts, we had to move it to Mondays and Thursdays,” Gonzalez said.
The supplemental funds were distributed during the pandemic when organizations experienced a spike in homebound clients.
“We were able to use that money to subsidize the increase in clients, but now that our clients are still at that same level, we've lost a lot of that money that would have fed them,” Gonzalez said.
However, demand has not decreased.
“We needed that money. We had it, and now we lost it,” Gonzalez said. “But we still have all those same clients… Now, anyone who comes onto the program that is new more than likely is not going to receive breakfast at all from us.”
Now, organizations affected will rely on donors and seek funding through local and state grants.
“We're just going to do what we have to do to make sure that the funding is there,” Gonzalez said.
