State's woes force cutback in Golden Diners senior meals program
Some elderly people in Kane and McHenry counties are going to be hungrier come Jan. 18, due in part to the state not paying its bills on time.
The home delivery portion of Golden Diners Service will stop bringing a second meal to them. Those are delivered to clients judged to be especially at risk of malnutrition.
The state owes more than $70,000 to the service, which is administered by the Salvation Army.
“They have not paid since July 1,” said Maj. Ken Nicolai, the program administrator. “And they can't seem to tell us when they will.”
Couple that with reduced payments from clients, less money from the federal government, and fewer donations, and Nicolai found himself lacking enough money in December to pay his food supplier. He could only pay one-third of the monthly bill on time, still owes the supplier $15,000 as of Monday, and the rest of the month is not looking any better.
“We had to make a serious cut to make sure seniors got at least one hot meal a day,” Nicolai said. “It was the only fair situation.”
The program
Golden Diners is part of the federal Older Americans Act Nutrition Program. The federal money is funneled through the Northeast Illinois Area on Aging. The Geneva-based program has more than 1,100 clients who get a hot meal five days a week. About 120 of them also receive a cold meal because caseworkers from Senior Services Associates believe these people would otherwise become malnourished.
SSA caseworkers evaluate all the clients to determine eligibility for the hot and cold meals. It is not just a matter of income; they determine the person's ability to make a meal for themselves. The home delivery program is for people unable to operate a stove or microwave oven, or go to a grocery store or charity pantry. Golden Diners also operates a dining-center program, where people can gather for meals with other clients; that is separately budgeted, and does not rely on state funding.
“They want to stay in their own homes,” Nicolai said of his clients. He said it is a much less expensive alternative than assisted-living homes. “It is better for them, and cheaper for society.”
The meal delivery has another value — daily contact. Volunteers ask if clients are taking their medications, and note if the client appears sick or doesn't answer the door. A couple of times a year, they end up calling an ambulance for a client, Nicolai said.
The money
Golden Diners buys its meals from a caterer. The food is delivered to several sites where Golden Diners workers put it in individual containers and volunteers pick up the meals for delivery. Because the cold meal is being eliminated, two of the 53 paid workers will lose their jobs, and eight will work fewer hours.
Because of its late payment on the December bill, the caterer is thinking of tightening the Golden Diners' credit, requiring weekly payments, according to Nicolai. The program was dipping into its reserves, and received a loan from the Salvation Army headquarters, to meet its bills.
Its annual budget is $1.6 million. Of that, more than $800,000 comes from the Department of Agriculture and $298,674 from clients. The rest comes from townships, United Way, private donations and the state's reimbursement.
The clients pay what they want or can, typically $1.75 to $2 a meal. Nicolai said clients paid $74,171 less in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2010 than they did the previous year.
A meeting with state legislators in December was discouraging: “They told us they had until the end of December to pay 2009 bills,” Nicolai said. “Who knows when we will get paid?”
And, even though the elderly population is growing, the agency cannot accept new clients. Instead, they will be put on a waiting list.
“We've got a terrible situation,” Nicolai said.