Conroy Legislation Funds Vital Meals on Wheels Program
In response to the pending closure of community dining centers and drastic reduction in home-delivered meals for DuPage County seniors, state Rep. Deb Conroy, D-Villa Park, recently introduced vital legislation to provide desperately needed funding for Meals on Wheels.
"Our communities and the senior citizens who desperately rely on Meals on Wheels should not suffer as the result of political gridlock," Conroy said. "The services that Meals on Wheels provides are crucial to the health of our communities, and I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this program that so many seniors rely on."
To help ensure that seniors will continue to receive the home-delivered meals that they rely on, Conroy introduced House Bill 4382, which provides funding for the Meals on Wheels programs throughout Illinois and meal programs at community dining centers, including the DuPage Senior Citizens Council (DSCC). The DSCC is a volunteer-based non-profit organization that delivers meals to homebound seniors and serves meals at 8 community dining centers throughout DuPage County, providing over 210,000 meals each year to approximately 3,600 seniors.
The DSCC has not been funded during the ongoing state budget impasse, and the organization will soon have to reduce meal deliveries from five to two meals per week. Area community dining centers are in danger of closing. Throughout her tenure, Conroy has been a vocal advocate of senior nutrition programs, voting several times to release funding to community agencies. Conroy recently volunteered to deliver meals to area seniors and spoke to residents about the importance of the program.
"For some of the seniors that we serve, this is the only meal they will have in a day," said Debbie McKenzie, Manager of the Glendale Heights Senior Center. "We have been doing everything we can to help our seniors but at the end of the day, we have run out of options and we need people to support Rep. Conroy's efforts for the health and safety of our seniors."