Seniors feeling loss as congregate meal programs end

HIGHLAND, Ind. (AP) - William Bilyak, 80, and fellow veteran Phil Witham, 75, like to meet for a few hours and talk in the small room at Highland's Lincoln Center.

Mark Sawchik and Donna Bartoszek like to get together with other seniors and play cards.

To the east at Lake Station Senior Center, another group of older residents also is gathering together.

Some of these people have been coming for 20 years, and a few have even gotten married to people they've met there. They get health screenings and celebrate special occasions, such as Gertrude Lizak's recent 100th birthday.

Lately, however, these seniors have become concerned that these few hours of friendly social interaction soon may be coming to a close when Greater Hammond Community Services ends its congregate meal program at the end of June.

In some cases, they are waiting to find out whether they will be able to continue to gather at places like Lincoln Center after the program is closed.

"I like to come visit with the people," Lizak said as she gathered with a group last week to hear more information about the end of the program in Lake Station.

The decision by the agency in Hammond to discontinue their congregate meal program will affect seniors 60 and older who go to four different locations: a room in the Hammond Civic Center; a room inside Lincoln Center in Highland; the Lake Station Senior Center; and a facility inside Merrillville High School.

All the centers are open from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

At all four sites, 40 meals a week are provided to seniors through the Wheels on Meals program, an average of eight a day. The meals are free to participants 60 and older, although there is a suggested $2 donation.

Some congregate meal sites being operated by other agencies, such as South Lake County Community Services, are remaining open where people can go.

Not everyone comes to eat at the centers and for some who do, it is not their primary reason for attending. Some sites, like the one at Merrillville H.S., have speakers on issues relevant to seniors along with bingo and other entertainment.

"I come here for social reasons, not economic," Witham said.

Gwen Gass, site manager in Merrillville, said, however, "the ones who eat every day (at the Merrillville site) say this is their main meal of the day."

Tim Cottingham, director of Greater Hammond Community Services, said while the congregate meal program is ending, the center is looking at increasing the number of meal vouchers seniors 60 and older can use at certain local restaurants.

Witham and many of the other seniors would prefer to continue getting their meals at the centers where they have been going for decades.

"I have friends here," he said. "I'm not going to go to a restaurant and look at a wall and talk to myself."

In Highland, the room at Lincoln Center did not charge residents. Now, however, seniors may have to pay more than $40 daily to use the room unless they can get a waiver from the town, according to Alex M. Brown, superintendent of Highland's Parks and Recreation Department.

Lake Station Mayor Chris Anderson said seniors will continue to be able to gather at his community's senior center free of charge. The city will provide funding for coffee and plans to make improvements to the roof and other parts of the center.

In Merrillville, Diane G. Smith, along with 30 other people who attend the facility there, sent a letter asking the senior citizens center located at the high school remain open, "as it provides necessary support for those of us who are aged and depend on the stability that the Center provides."

In addition to the four programs in Lake County scheduled to close at month's end, the nutrition program at Hebron Senior Center in Porter County also is ending on June 29.

Bruce Lindner, executive director of Porter County Aging and Community Services, said only five people get meals at the site, and it's not feasible for Meals on Wheels to deliver so few meals there.

The number of congregate meal sites has dropped over the years as participation has declined. Cottingham, of the agency in Hammond, said at one time his agency operated eight sites in Lake County.

Porter County's Lindner noted about a dozen years ago there were up to 35 people at a site in Chesterton, but participation later dropped so that program also was dropped.

Some programs in Porter County continue to do well, however, such as the operation at Bonner Center in Portage. Lisa Leach, center assistant director and nutrition site manager, said they serve about 88 people a day during the week. The facility has two cooks who prepare meals on site.

While almost all are members of the center, they said others can participate in the nutrition program. There is a $2 suggested donation for people 60 and older, but people between 55 and 60 also can get that deal if they volunteer to help with the nutrition program.

The Banta Center, in Valparaiso, draws people from a wide area for its nutrition program, said officials, with 20 to 60 seniors participating daily.

Margot Sabato, executive director of South Lake County Community Services, said participation has declined, and there also is less federal money for meals. The agency provides meals at Crown Point Civic Center, St. John Township Center in Schererville, and Holy Spirit Church in Winfield.

The money for the congregate meal programs and the restaurant voucher program come from the Older Americans Act and is administered locally through Northwest Indiana Community Action.

Jennifer Malone, chief operating officer for the agency, said funding from the program has remained relatively flat, but costs to provide the services have increased.

"These decisions are never easy," she said. Malone said it is painful for the agency to close any site but noted the agency doesn't have an unlimited funding source.

Officials also said the restaurant voucher program can give seniors more flexibility and still give them a chance to socialize.

Other sites where congregate meals will continue to be offered include Crown Point Senior Center, and Merrillville's Gass said some who now attend the site in Merrillville may travel to that site, although Sabato said whether more funding will be available to accommodate them is not known.

Malone, however, said Northwest Indiana Community Action will consider providing additional funding for centers that are picking up people displaced from sites ending their nutrition program.

Some sites are still seeing high participation. Pam Buhman, president and owner of PMB LLC Consulting, which operates nutrition sites in Gary and East Chicago, said she has been able to provide meals for everyone wanting one, but the price per meal needs to be higher to cover costs.

At her Gary site at Roosevelt Pavilion Center she serves as many as 35 to 40 people on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays when there are other activities offered. But she said participation at one site in East Chicago has declined, as younger residents have moved in to the area.

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Source: The (Munster) Times, http://bit.ly/1UdFPgS

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Information from: The Times, http://www.thetimesonline.com