Description
Meals on Wheels is designed for homebound older adults (60+) who are physically or mentally unable to shop for food or prepare meals. Meals on Wheels is a passionate effort to end senior hunger. In addition to these homebound meals, the Washington County Senior Center also offers congregate meals during lunch for those who are 60 and older. The Washington County Senior Center and Washington County Cooperative Extension have a great partnership to address meal needs and food costs. The Washington County Cooperative Extension hosts a SHIIP program that helps "clients navigate Medicare's very confusing and overwhelming waters. In 2024, they saw 250 clients, saving them over $264K in drug costs. The money saved through this program will heat their home, help them pay for groceries, and possibly even afford medications they were not taking before due to the cost. These numbers don't fluctuate year to year. In the span of a decade, that equates to $2.5 Million dollars saved to the citizens of Washington County." Through community programs like these, people of Washington County are able to put more money towards food costs.
Progress in 2025
In 2025, both congregate meals and home-delivered meals continued to be offered through the senior center. From January through August, a total of 1,876 congregate meals and 5,417 home-delivered meals were provided to eligible participants. Data for September through December were not available at the time of this report. Despite the incomplete data for the latter part of the year, meal services remained accessible and operational throughout 2025 to support the nutritional needs of older adults in the community.