Advocate
Take action and speak up for seniors!
Our nation’s senior population is growing exponentially, outpacing the resources available to serve vulnerable older adults and putting their health and well-being in jeopardy. Meals on Wheels services are a proven and effective public-private partnership that promotes health and improves quality of life for our community’s seniors.
It is essential to urge Congress to prioritize the needs of seniors and protect and increase funding for the health and community-based services they rely on, like SNAP and Meals on Wheels programs nationwide. Simply maintaining current funding levels isn’t an acceptable outcome and in fact would represent a funding cut at a time when more investments are desperately needed. Seniors are depending on us to speak out and demand action. Contact your senators and representatives today!
How YOu Can Take Action
Meals on Wheels People is powered by people just like you. Together, we are thousands of seniors, volunteers, dedicated staff, and donors strong. We need your help to fund and protect the programs that support seniors.
1. Look up your elected officials:
2. Call their office and ask to speak with a staffer.
Just say you’re a constituent, and you’d like to share your support for senior nutrition programs.
3. Say something like this:
I support Meals on Wheels People, which serves over 9,100 older adults and delivers more than 1 million meals each year across our region.
Most of those we serve live alone and on less than $1,600 a month — making meals, wellness checks, and social connection absolutely essential. SNAP is essential in bridging nutrition gaps for older adults, and disruptions and cuts to the program have a compounding impact on Meals on Wheels providers and the vulnerable population you serve.
For every $1 invested, programs like Meals on Wheels People can save up to $9 in health care costs by preventing hospitalizations, reducing emergency room visits, and helping older adults remain healthy and independent at home.
We can provide an entire year of meals and wellness checks for less than the cost of one day in the hospital.
These programs save lives, prevent costly hospitalizations, and help older adults remain healthy and independent.
Please protect and increase funding for the Older Americans Act.
Calls like this take less than 5 minutes — but they make a real difference.
Issues Older Americans Face
Today, 1 in 8 seniors is in danger of going hungry, and over half feel lonely. And yet most of us are unaware of how widespread and devastating these struggles are for older adults across the country.
Oregon and Washington Fact Sheets:
Learn More
Research and information on the issues of: