Summary
In this episode of Care Lab, hosts Brandy Archie and Emilia Bourland speak with Josh Protas, Chief Advocacy and Policy Officer at Meals on Wheels America. The conversation explores the vital role Meals on Wheels plays in senior nutrition, social connection, and public health. Josh shares insights on how the program works, the challenges posed by recent federal funding cuts and policy changes, and the far-reaching impacts on older adults across the U.S. The discussion also highlights what individuals can do to support the program through advocacy and involvement.
Key Questions Answered
-
What is Meals on Wheels and how does it support seniors?
Meals on Wheels is a nationwide network of community-based programs that delivers nutritious meals to seniors. Beyond food, it provides critical social interaction and safety checks that help older adults live independently and with dignity. -
Why is Meals on Wheels important beyond just providing meals?
The program combats senior hunger and isolation. Volunteers often serve as the only human contact a senior has in a day, which helps address loneliness, supports mental health, and even prevents falls and medical complications by serving as extra "eyes and ears." -
How is Meals on Wheels funded, and why is it at risk?
About 37% of funding comes from the federal Older Americans Act. The rest comes from state, local, and private sources. Recent reorganizations and proposed cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services threaten this funding, despite growing need due to an aging population. -
What are the current challenges facing the program?
Federal support hasn't kept pace with rising food, fuel, and operational costs. One in three programs has a waitlist, with average wait times up to four months. Staffing cuts and reorganization at HHS are also jeopardizing program coordination and effectiveness. -
How can individuals help Meals on Wheels and the seniors it serves?
Anyone can visit mealsonwheelsamerica.org to find local providers, volunteer, or participate in advocacy efforts. The organization’s "End the Wait" campaign encourages people to contact lawmakers and demand prioritization of senior nutrition funding.
Transcript
Brandy Archie
Welcome to Care Lab, everybody.
Emilia Bourland
Hi, welcome to CareLab. If you are wondering if CareLab is a big deal, then today you officially know that it is. Why? Because we have a really incredible guest on with us today. We have Josh Protus. Josh is the Chief Advocacy and Policy Officer at Meals on Wheels America, y'all. In this position, he oversees all advocacy campaigns and initiatives designed to support and strengthen the nationwide network of senior nutrition programs
and the individuals that they serve. Josh is responsible for building partnerships and coalitions and representing Meals on Wheels America and local providers before Congress, the administration, anti-hunger and aging advocates, and other audiences to achieve legislative and policy priorities. And in short, Josh works each day to raise awareness about the issues of senior hunger and isolation and turn our vision of America
in which all seniors live nourished lives with independence and dignity into an actual reality. Thank you so much for being here with us today, Josh.
Josh Protas
It's my pleasure. I'm delighted to be here. Thanks for having me.
Emilia Bourland
Okay, so we always get started with a little icebreaker question and today is no different. You have to go first, but it's a really, this is total softball. It's really easy. And I thought that it would be appropriate because this is Meals on Wheels. We're talking about nutrition. We're talking about food and the importance of it. I wanted to know from each of you, what is your like go-to comfort food? Bad day, this is what you go and have.
Brandy Archie
you
Brandy Archie
Hmm.
Brandy Archie
Hmm.
Josh Protas
You know, it kind of depends on the day, but I'm not gonna say no to a good burrito. just, it's got a little something, like a little of everything inside a tortilla, little spice, little sustenance. Yeah, with a margarita, then bad day turns good.
Brandy Archie
There we go.
Emilia Bourland
Mm.
Emilia Bourland
Bam, nailed it.
Brandy Archie
That's a great answer. could copy and paste that answer for sure. But I won't do that. I be a little bit more creative and say that I'm not allowed? I'm not allowed? Okay, okay. So my A1C is like on the borderline. So I've been trying very hard to decrease my carb intake. However, if you tell me I'm having a bad day and I want something, it should be pasta.
Emilia Bourland
gonna say. You're not, you're not allowed to. No, no.
Brandy Archie
and something very heavy and carbs. I love all kinds of pasta and all kinds of forms and fashions and so that is what I would do. That's me.
Emilia Bourland
Have you ever made your own pasta at home?
Brandy Archie
I've never made my own pasta, although I have seen enough Instagram Reels to say that maybe I could, but I also am like, hmm pasta doesn't cost that much, and it's very quick to make, it's already prepared. So do I want to put in this effort? So far the answer has been no.
Emilia Bourland
That's true. It's actually really easy, but it is like, it's something that you like do on a day when you don't have other things to do. But it is easy. That's a hundred percent fair. Okay. So mine is, same as you, Josh, like it probably depends on the day, what I'm kind of really after. Any kind of Mexican food with a margarita like is always gonna make me happy. But if it's like,
Brandy Archie
which doesn't exist in my life.
Brandy Archie
Hahaha
Emilia Bourland
like really deep down comfort food. I want udon noodle soup. I couldn't tell you. It's just like so like warm and nourishing and like umami and it just, it just does it for me.
Brandy Archie
Mmm.
Josh Protas
We should do this podcast over lunch.
Brandy Archie
We should. I mean, yeah, we should definitely have been doing that. Well, now we'll have to suffer through.
Emilia Bourland
Why aren't we doing that? my gosh.
Josh Protas
You know, caregivers have to take care of themselves too, right? Like so.
Emilia Bourland
That's right. Yeah. We should, it actually is full disclosure. It is during like the lunch hour that we're recording this right now. So hopefully we all actually got something to eat before this.
Brandy Archie
So we were so excited to be able to talk to you because, you know, in a earlier episode, we were talking about how all the changes from the Health and Human Services are impacting people's real lives, right? And sometimes it can feel really ethereal to hear about all the changes in government. Even the fact that HHS has 27 different programs, I didn't even realize that, or departments, I should say, and those departments manage programs. And then people are like, okay, whatever.
What's the big deal? Narrow down to a smaller number. And I picked out Meals on Wheels coming from the organization that's also getting cut down as a really strong one because both of us as occupational therapists have spent a good amount of time with seniors in clinic and in their homes. And many of the times my clients who were in home health were seeing me and other therapists that come from home health for a short period of time.
The one thing that was continuous was that they always got their meals on wheels either every day or every week. And so I see the impact of that program on regular people's lives. This is not just like, the most destitute or the most destitute. This is like everybody's grandma and grandpa, especially the ones who live alone. And it strikes me as something that people don't realize is super important. And I'd love it if you just talk to us a little bit about like,
the impact that Meals on Wheels has and maybe just start at the top and just be like, what is Meals on Wheels and then like, what kind of impact does it have and what do the numbers show us about why this is important to continue doing.
Josh Protas
Great, so happy to talk about it. And Brandy, as you mentioned, a lot of the clients that you work with, where there's a connection of that constant through line of Meals on Wheels, I'll just share personally, when I started working with Meals on Wheels America a little over a year ago, I was thrilled to do so because of a personal connection. My grandmother, Ruth Protus of Blessed Memory, who I grew up with very close to,
She was blind her entire adult life and Meals on Wheels was just a critical support that helped her to remain independent, gave her nourishing meals, but also those points of social connection. And really that's what Meals on Wheels has been doing for more than 50 years, provides nourishing meals that...
take into account the specific nutritional needs for older adults, right? Like the needs for our seniors are a little different than for people at other stages in life. the meals through home delivered meals and congregate meals are really tailored to help to support wellness and good functions for our older adults.
And for home delivered meals and also for congregate meals, those vital points of social connection are a fundamental part of the model. It's not just a frozen meal that's shipped off to somebody, but it is that point of human connection. And for many recipients who get a home delivered meal brought to them by a volunteer, that may be the...
Brandy Archie
you
Josh Protas
only social contact they have over the course of a day, over the course of a week. And it's important because we know that social isolation and loneliness are critical problems, that human contact is so essential to wellness. And when a volunteer comes into a recipient's home and brings them their meal, they're not only able to...
have that conversation and have that human connection, but they're also able to check on them to see, hey, is this individual at risk of a fall? Are there some other safety or kind of wellness concerns that I need to alert somebody else about? So it's eyes and ears that help to keep that older adult safe in their own home, living.
independently, with dignity. That's fundamentally what Meals on Wheels is all about. Meals on Wheels America works to support the more than 5,000 local Meals on Wheels providers around the country. These are community-based organizations that are invested in their communities. They know the seniors in their communities. They're leveraging volunteer support to really help to meet seniors where they are.
and to support them given the unique needs that they have. The majority of our members provide both home delivered and congregate meals, as well as the social supports and connection to other services. And we've been doing this for a very long time, officially as part of the Older Americans Act. And we'll talk some more about, I think, legislation and kind of public policy.
We've been part of the Older Americans Act that's administered by the Department of Health and Human Services for more than 50 years now, but programs have been running even longer than that. And Meals on Wheels programs are successful. There's abundant evidence about not only the transformative impact that they have on the lives of individuals, again, helping to support health and wellness and independent living, but also the cost effectiveness.
Josh Protas
We can feed an older adult for an entire year for roughly the same cost as one day in a hospital or 10 days in a nursing home. And we know that this is a smart investment because by providing Meals on Wheels services, we help that older adult to remain independently at home away from more costly healthcare and long-term care utilization that wind up being bigger drains on Medicaid, Medicare, as well as family budgets.
So it's not only doing the right thing by our older adults, but it's also a smart investment that is saving our government money.
Brandy Archie
you
Emilia Bourland
just want to, I want to highlight some of the things that you said there before we go deeper into legislation. One is that, so Meals on Wheels is not only providing vital nutrition assistance to our seniors, but it also is providing this vital service of providing socialization, helping with loneliness, which we know research tells us is important for
cognitive function, it's actually important for fall prevention, and it allows people to get eyes on folks to see if there's something wrong so that early intervention can be provided if something is going on with that person. And all of that together, besides just being the right thing to do because we care about people, also saves us untold numbers of dollars.
And yet there are threats to the funding for Meals on Wheels. And so can you talk a little bit about what is going on right now and what that is like really looking like?
Josh Protas
Yeah, it's a challenging environment in Washington right now. And so my role at Meals on Wheels America is to lead our public policy and advocacy efforts. And the good news is that there's broad recognition of the powerful impact that Meals on Wheels programs have. Meals on Wheels has always enjoyed strong bipartisan support. It's not a partisan issue in any kind of way.
And we also face challenges about having sufficient funding for our programs, as well as making sure that our programs can work as effectively as possible in coordination with other programs that serve older adults. So at the current time, there are challenges we're facing on a few different fronts. So funding, let me start there.
Funding has not really kept pace with a growing level of need for some time now. So the American population is aging rapidly. We have 12,000 individuals every single day in this country who turn 60 years old. And as a country, we haven't invested in the infrastructure to really care and support a growing aging population.
And certainly for Meals on Wheels programs, that is true as well. There had been gradual increases in funding for a number of years, but not at the rate of increase that was necessary to meet these growing needs. And unfortunately in fiscal year 2024, when we talk about federal funding, talk about fiscal years,
we saw the first cut in Meals on Wheels support for the first time in more than a decade. So that was really disheartening, especially because even flat funding, which sounds like that's not terrible, like you're getting the same amount of funding from one year to the next, but when you take into account that there is growing demand because of rapidly aging population and more seniors who are needing
Josh Protas
support from nutrition programs, as well as rising costs for programs for things like food, fuel, program operations, flat funding really is a cut. And right now, in our most recent survey of Meals on Wheels members, one in three programs report keeping a waiting list. An average wait time of about four months now, sometimes as long as two years.
Brandy Archie
you
Josh Protas
So imagine if you're an older adult and you're in need of nutrition assistance, you're in need of points of social connection, and you apply and you're told, well, you're gonna need to wait. That's really upsetting, devastating. And then think about the family members for that individual who are concerned about their
Emilia Bourland
That's devastating.
Brandy Archie
It's horrible.
Josh Protas
their older adult, maybe they live in a community across the country and they just wanna make sure that their mother, their father, their grandmother, their grandfather is gonna be able to get just the basic necessities to get by only to find out, hey, you may need to wait months. That's really an unacceptable situation. And unfortunately, because...
federal funding has not kept pace with the growing need and rising costs, we're seeing those waiting lists grow. So that's, I'd say, kind of a systemic long-term challenge that we have. And in this environment, we're seeing proposals that to further cut sources of funding for Meals on Wheels programs. Now I should just put things in a bit of context. So,
Meals on Wheels is really an excellent example of a successful public-private partnership. Often we get referred to as setting the gold standard for public-private partnerships. So about 37 % of the funding for programs comes through the Older Americans Act Nutrition Program. So that's federal funding that gets appropriated on an annual basis. Then,
to compliment that OAA nutrition program funding. There's state and local funding that comes to play. There's some other sources of federal funding as well as private contributions. So that small investment from the federal government really helps to unlock much greater contributions from other sources to support seniors. But if the federal component of that doesn't really
keep pace with growing need, there just isn't the ability to fill in those gaps. And that's what we're seeing in addition to proposals to cut some sources of funding and then some of the changes that are happening at HHS that we're concerned.
Brandy Archie
So, okay, that was going be my big question. like, where does the funding come from? So it's bad that the federal government
Brandy Archie
Sorry for the sound background. It's bad that the federal government has not kept pace with the growing costs, but also you're getting funding from other places. so that's helpful and useful, but it really does rely on kind of like the government backs this and supports this. So I have so many questions, from within there, how are you guys getting effective?
by the changes in the program that you fall under being eliminated from HHS? And does that also mean that all of the 37 % of funding will go away and you'll have to find another way to try to make this happen? And then secondarily, because I just got to get both questions out of my head, is I know that there's a good amount of effort spent in some Medicare Advantage programs and some Medicaid programs to fund nutrition assistance.
and do you get any assistance that way?
Josh Protas
Great, excellent question. let me, if I forget any of them, please jump in. So with changes at the Department of Health and Human Services. So there were recently announced a reorganization plan at the Department of Health and Human Services and Meals on Wheels programs have fallen under the auspices of the Administration for Community Living, gets referred to as ACL.
Brandy Archie
Yes.
Josh Protas
ACL has been in existence since 2012 and has worked really effectively to coordinate the different programs and services that meet the needs of both older adults as well as people with disabilities. So Meals on Wheels programs fall under that, but again, in coordination with a lot of other programs. And we know that the needs of individuals are complex. So an individual who has needs around nutrition and social connection,
likely has other needs, maybe around transportation, maybe around other medical supports, maybe caregiver supports. And ACL has worked really effectively to bring together those various programs that meet different discrete needs for individuals, but to do so in a coordinated fashion. In the proposal for reorganization at HHS,
there is the proposed elimination of the Administration for Community Living. So what, there are a lot of questions still about what may unfold or even about what's intended here. According to what we've seen so far, different programs and services that had been administered under ACL would go to different areas within HHS.
And in addition, some programs have been slated for elimination completely. So proposed programs for elimination include Lifespan Respite Care, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP, the Aging and Disability Resource Centers, Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, Adult Protective Services Program. So there are a lot of programs that are...
according to the proposal right now, like on the chopping block, that's deeply concerning. programs that serve the older adult population are split up now in this plan in some different areas at HHS. And we're concerned that these programs have worked effectively by coordinating together and that if they're separated out a different
Josh Protas
parts of massive federal agency that we may lose some of that ability. There have been some court injunctions that are putting reorganizations on hold right now. You should also note that there have been massive staff terminations at HHS. So about 10,000 employees opted to take a
a buyout, so they have left. And then another 10,000 or so have essentially been fired. Now the status of that I think is still a little bit in question pending some court actions. But there's also a concern about that significant loss of institutional knowledge, of expertise that have run programs effectively and
in questions about what the impact will be on programs in service delivery. Let's see, you asked another excellent question.
Brandy Archie
It was around funding about like Medicare Advantage and Medicaid and like, you, is that part of the other 60 % of the funding and people are on those programs or are you able to intertwine with some of that?
Josh Protas
Yeah.
Josh Protas
Yeah, and let me just say with the proposed announcements about reorganization and restructuring at HHS, that doesn't necessarily mean that funding is gone. So for the senior nutrition programs, right now our funding through kind of the annual appropriations process is intact in the president's
skinny budget proposal for fiscal year 2026. This is sort of a bare bones budget proposal. There is level funding for the Older Americans Act Nutrition Program. Again, level funding we see is not sufficient to meet needs. So it's effectively a cut and it also perpetuates a significant shortfall that leaves so many of our programs to have waiting lists.
All of these reorganizations doesn't necessarily mean that the funding is just going away. So there's still question marks about this, but Congress ultimately has the authority about making decisions on funding. Regarding Medicaid, Medicare, and I'll actually add SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program into the mix too. Those are...
important complementary sources of funding as well as some different federal block grant programs. So on block grants, particularly the social services block grant program is an important source of funding for many Meals on Wheels programs to complement the Older Americans Act nutrition program dollars that they get. Again, still doesn't even go far enough, but helps to fill in some of those gaps.
We were concerned that the social services block grant program funding was potentially gonna be eliminated in the budget reconciliation process. It looks like for now that that's safe. The elimination of SSBG funds was not in the budget reconciliation bill at this point that's making its way through the house. But Medicaid and SNAP are definitely in danger.
Josh Protas
for significant cuts in the budget reconciliation process. And those are really important for meeting the needs of older adults, not only because they provide some complimentary sources of funding for some meals on wheels providers, but that they help to ensure the food security, the health and wellbeing for older adults into the degree that seniors may lose access to health coverage or they may lose access to
to SNAP benefits, that is going to add to hunger and hardship that will put an even greater strain on programs that are already stretched thin. So some of our Meals on Wheels partners on the ground received support through Medicaid. For example, Section 1115 waivers enable, in states that have taken this option, enable Medicaid to reimburse for medically tailored meals.
So that can be very, very helpful for older adults who have very specific nutritional needs around medical conditions and their food support can be supported through Medicaid, which is actually a really smart investment because it helps to prevent longer term chronic health conditions. Similarly, SNAP dollars have been helpful in some communities where
Meals on Wheels providers are able to accept EBT payments from SNAP recipients. There has to be kind of arrangements to made for this, but for older adults who receive Meals on Wheels or congregate meals, they're asked to make a voluntary contribution toward that meal. And if they are also a SNAP recipient, they're able to utilize SNAP.
dollars to make a contribution, which really respects their dignity because, you know, for older adults who are getting this help, they want to be able to give something in return and they may not have the resources to do that. So in some cases, SNAP benefits can be helpful for just adding some additional support as well as the SNAP education program that provides really vital
Josh Protas
nutrition, education, and resources benefits many Meals on Wheels programs as well. So there's a whole host of challenging issues right now that we're paying attention to. And we're asking people to join us in calling more attention to the needs of older adults, but also raising their voices to make sure that our policymakers are prioritizing the needs of seniors.
I want to just emphasize the word prioritize because that I think is just a sad reality that not only are older adults waiting on waiting lists to get the nutrition support and social connections they need, but they're really waiting for our country to prioritize the needs of seniors. Older adults just don't get the same kind of recognition. They often get overlooked.
And I think some of this we see in terms of policy decisions where it's sort of a lesser priority and sometimes even an afterthought. But also just as a society, you look at media coverage, you look at philanthropic giving. It's only about 1 % of philanthropic giving that goes toward senior focused causes. So when there's a shortfall of
federal investments in older adult supports, the philanthropic community really hasn't filled in those gaps because the priorities tend to be on other issues about families and children and other causes. So, Meals on Wheels America has launched an effort to end the wait, to call more attention to the need for seniors to...
get the recognition and the supports they need in a variety of different factors.
Emilia Bourland
think it's important to understand. There's kind of two layers of understanding here, right? It's like one is understanding what programs like Kneels on Wheels means to individuals. And these are individuals who not only could be, but at some point probably will be, our mothers, our fathers, our grandparents, our aunts and uncles, us potentially in the future, right?
and to think about the types of lives and the level of dignity that we want, the individuals that we love to have as they get old. And then on the other hand, there's this bigger question about the overall larger impact of programs like Meals on Wheels 2. And I'm wondering if you, and if you don't have these numbers, that's okay, but I'm just curious, do you have a sense, do you know how many people does Meals on Wheels serve today?
and how many people does Meals on Wheels need to be serving today, if that makes sense.
Josh Protas
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for the question. And thank you for kind of thinking about both the individual impact and then that larger collective impact. And currently our programs are reaching about 2.2 million older adults every year. And you think about like those individual stories in what Meals on Wheels means.
not only for the senior, him or herself, but then for their family members and kind of for their community. And you magnify that by 2.2 million. We estimate that there are about another 2.5 million older adults who are in need of Meals on Wheel services who currently aren't being served. So that's more than double. And that number of...
Unserved seniors is going to grow as the aging population increases if we're not matching that with appropriate levels of investments.
Brandy Archie
That is a challenge. But I think sometimes we hear like big numbers all the time. And I wonder if you know like what percentage that 4.1 million, the people you're serving and the people who need to be served, what fraction of the population of older adults is that? that a big, should we be concerned? Is that a big problem? Or is it like,
Not that many people are that hungry, so it's okay if we slim this down.
Josh Protas
No, it's a significant number of older adults who struggle with food insecurity. It's about 13 million older adults who are experiencing or at risk of being food insecure. So fortunately, a sizable number of that larger population in need are getting supports in different kinds of ways, whether that's through SNAP, whether it's through
Brandy Archie
Mm-hmm.
Josh Protas
Meals on Wheels or congregate feeding programs. But there are many who fall through the cracks. And for those who fall through the cracks, there's not only a profound personal impact. mean, you think about the toll on a person who goes hungry, who worries about where their next meal is coming from. And think about that for an older adult who has
a fixed little to no income and that worry is almost an existential worry. If they're not sure where that food is coming from. And then the impact societally when we're not meeting those needs. So an older adult who goes without food that they need, maybe they're taking medication that they're supposed to be taking with food and they're not able to do that so the medicine's less.
efficacious, but certainly their health conditions are going to be exacerbated if they're skipping meals and their mental health is going to deteriorate and then their ability to remain at home becomes compromised. They may be a greater risk for falls or for other kind of serious safety issues and are
more likely to have to go into a nursing home where it's much more costly. So it's short-sighted not to be able to proactively meet the needs of seniors, not only for those fiscal reasons, but also just think about who we are as a country and our values.
we should be taking care of those who are vulnerable among us and older adults who've given so much in their lives to support families, to support communities. They shouldn't have to live their lives in worry and anxiety. And there are far too many seniors who find themselves in exactly that situation. know, tragically,
Josh Protas
among the unhoused population, the fastest growing segment of the unhoused population are older adults. And it's just heartbreaking to think about that. People who've done everything right for their entire lives and they may just not have the resources to be able to continue to support themselves and find themselves without housing, without basic needs. It really is...
heartbreaking and it's preventable and tragic.
Emilia Bourland
And I would go so far as to say it's actually unacceptable. We live in the richest country in the world. There should be no one here going hungry. Certainly not vulnerable populations like our older adults. It's just unacceptable. And I love how you talked about priorities earlier because
Brandy Archie
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland
this is not necessarily a matter of not having funds to spend. It's amount of how we want to prioritize the funds that we want to spend. And we should be thinking about our values as we're thinking about how we want to prioritize our funds. And that's, course, every, there are so many needs to go around and we can't possibly do everything for everyone all the time. And yet,
we have to be fundamentally committed to making sure that at the very least people have food to eat, right? This is just, to me, this is like a basic value. And obviously like I'm spouting my own opinions here, but it also seems to me that that is, that taking care of each other is also an American value.
Josh Protas
It's absolutely an American value. It's a human value, but it's fundamentally an American value. And we're having this conversation amidst a lot of debates about the budget and about spending decisions in Washington. And many people discuss budgets as a moral document. And I think that's absolutely right. Budgets reflect what your values and your priorities are.
That's true at a personal level when you're coming up with your household budget, but it's true at a societal level. We have the ability in this country to make decisions about taking care of the things that we prioritize. I would argue that taking care of the most vulnerable among us is quintessentially American.
Brandy Archie
you
Josh Protas
it speaks to the best of our values and that it's absolutely the role of the federal government to play a leadership role in that. That the federal government fulfills our collective responsibility to care for those among us. so decisions about funding.
reflect these priorities. And there are a lot of questions right now about what the appropriate size and scope of the federal government should be. And I think some good questions are part of that debate, but I find it very difficult to believe that turn our backs on older adults who are struggling is justified in any kind of situation.
Brandy Archie
I totally agree with you on that and want to make sure that our listeners have some action points to take away from today. And so can you talk about one, how they can get connected with Meals on Wheels if they or a loved one needs to use a service? Because like you mentioned, there's this interesting partnership of nationwide support, but also local organizations that fulfill Meals on Wheels. just because you're not seeing the other 2.5 million people who need help doesn't mean that the community
the program in your community has a wait list. So please do use the service. And then also if you don't need to use the service or just want to have a broader impact on the advocacy side of it, what are things that people can do?
Josh Protas
Absolutely, well thank you for the question. So we direct people to our website, mealsonwheelsamerica.org. So at our website that we're newly launching, there are a lot of resources to help find a meal provider in your community if you're interested in volunteering and connecting with the local program, but also an advocacy center so that you can
raise your voice in calling on policymakers to prioritize the needs of older adults. Right now, we are concerned about the budget reconciliation bill that the House of Representatives is negotiating right now. It looks like there will be significant cuts to the Medicaid program, to SNAP program, and to other programs that provide vital services.
we're encouraging people to reach out to their members of Congress, to their representatives to oppose this budget reconciliation package. It's still being negotiated as we're having this interview, but the basic contours are of concern and would have a very harmful impact on vulnerable older adults. So we have action alerts, we have call scripts, and ways for people to raise their...
their voices. So lots of ways to get involved. I mentioned before that we have launched the End the Weight campaign and on our website there's information about that too. And I should also note that this year is marking the 60th anniversary of the Older Americans Act. And so there's something particularly sad that in a time when we should be celebrating
what's been very effective public policy for supporting our older adults, we're having to fight even harder to maintain basic services.
Emilia Bourland
And that fight is really up to all of us. It's not just up to the folks who are there working at Meals on Wheels. It's up to all of us as Americans, as engaged citizens, as patriots to tell our elected officials what we want, what we think, and what our values and our priorities are. So don't hesitate to reach out, to go on that website, to reach out to your elected officials. Let them know what you want, what you think.
how you want to value and prioritize these amazing programs like Meals on Wheels. Josh, thank you so much for being here on Care Lab today. We are just absolutely humbled to have you and to be able to talk about this really, really important issue that affects not just older adults, but really all of us, because guess what? We all have older adults in our lives. We will all hopefully knock on some wood around here.
Brandy Archie
Yeah, thank you so much.
Emilia Bourland
be older adults ourselves some days, and we wanna make sure and take care of those folks now and going into the future. Listener, if you made it to the end of this episode of Care Lab, thank you so much for listening. Please take a moment to like and subscribe. Share this episode with someone that you think would benefit from hearing it, and go back and check out some of our other episodes. We have amazing content all for caregivers and older adults to help you live your life the best that you possibly can.
We'll see you next time right back here on Care Lab. Bye.
Brandy Archie
Bye everybody.
Josh Protas
Bye, thanks so much.
Do us a favor and subscribe to the CareLab podcast on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts! It will help others find our conversations and grow the community and you’ll stay updated with the latest insights and expert advice on elder care.
