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Every weekday, volunteers deliver about 250 fresh, free meals to homebound seniors across the Tri-Valley through the local Meals on Wheels program.
All together they run 18 routes daily, contributing time and their personal vehicles to make sure clients receive their much-needed meals.
Coordinated by Spectrum Community Services, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that offers a variety of programs to Bay Area residents, Meals on Wheels is a lifeline for many seniors, program manager Carrie Oldes said.
However the future of Spectrum and its services appears uncertain, amid the federal funding freeze, according to Spectrum Executive Director Lara Calvert. Among the stakes are the security and comfort provided to hundreds of seniors in the Tri-Valley.
“The community expects us to be here to help us take care of our neighbors. At this point in time, we can always say yes,” Calvert said. “I truly hope that we do not get to the situation where we have to turn people away and start a waiting list or not be able to be here at all.”
Spectrum was established in 1971 to enhance the quality of life for Alameda County seniors and low-income residents. Within the Tri-Valley, the organization is best known for its Meals on Wheels program, affiliated with the national network called Meals on Wheels America.
Through this program, Spectrum delivers balanced meals to housebound seniors 60 years old and above in Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton or Sunol who cannot prepare their own food and have mobility difficulties. Personal deliveries are made Monday through Friday, except certain holidays, and chilled or frozen meals can be pre-ordered for weekends and holidays.
Not income- or asset-based, qualification for this service depends on need, Oldes explained.
The program is meant to help seniors “age at home with dignity”.
Following an application, clients can begin to receive deliveries the next day.
Spectrum suggests clients donate $4 per meal, but contributions are voluntary and no one is denied service due to lack of donations.
Beyond the sustenance itself, Spectrum is providing a wellness and social check-in, Oldes noted.
Given that about 60% of the clients live alone, the Spectrum volunteer delivering a meal may be the only person the client sees during the day.
For client Mara Robezgruntnieks-Niels, her interaction with the volunteers is a joy.
“Every single volunteer has been a ray of sunshine in the morning,” Robezgruntnieks-Niels said during a delivery in January.
But before any of the meals can roll out to clients, they must first be prepared by a three-person team at Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley in Livermore.
Led by Molly Russo, registered dietitian at Stanford and longtime Meals on Wheels program dietitian, food service workers at the Stanford kitchen begin meal preparations at about 5:30 a.m. daily.
Depending on the menu that day, they cook veggies and proteins, make sauces and prepare fruit salads. They commonly produce Italian, Thai and east Indian-inspired meals. They also offer rice and tortillas as sides to each meal for ethnic inclusivity, Russo said.
The meals can be catered to all dietary needs, including low sodium, low fat, low cholesterol, renal, carbohydrate control, soft, mechanical soft and vegetarian.
Once prepared, typically on the order of 250 servings, the food is packed for distribution. All-inclusive, the meals cost an average of $15 each, the majority of which is covered by federal funding.
Spectrum then brings the meals to the Pleasanton Senior Center, which serves as a pickup location for volunteers.
For Shirley Farrell-Cowles, Meals on Wheels client of about 2-1/2 years, the service has provided comfort and convenience.
Prior to receiving the service, she wasn’t often cooking, her son and caretaker Steve Farrell said. She needed that extra meal to come in.
Plus, the balanced meals help her maintain her blood sugar as a diabetic, Farrell-Cowles said.
“My son is good — he goes to the store and everything, but it’s kind of nice that I have that in the fridge,” she said. “I know that if he has an appointment or has to go out or something, I know that I’ll have the food there.”
The weekly contact with Spectrum volunteers is also really important, Farrell said.
Weekly Meals on Wheels volunteer Audrey Gillette also finds herself uplifted through connecting with clients.
“Every week it reminds me to be grateful,” Gillette said. “I’m never exhausted when I’m done. My bucket is full, like they’ve just filled my bucket — they bring so much joy to my day.”
As part of Spectrum’s other services, it offers yearly assistance to income-qualifying households for a utility bill as part of the federally funded, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Due to limited funding and high demand, LIHEAP is not guaranteed even if an applicant qualifies for assistance, Calvert said. By federal law, priority is given to households with seniors 60 years old and above, persons with disabilities and/or children ages five and under.
Within LIHEAP, Spectrum also provides weatherization services to those who qualify financially. This includes home and apartment assessments as well as the replacement of furnaces, water heaters and air conditioning systems.
If someone is income-qualifying and their furnace goes out, they likely don’t have the $8,000 to $18,000 it takes to replace that system, Calvert said.
“This really is a life-saving service to help make sure that people keep their electrical service and gas service on in the first place — through the credits to their bill — as well as make sure that their furnace, air conditioning and water heaters are all working,” Calvert said.
Additional assistance through LIHEAP can include replacement of smoke-detectors, insulation, doors, weather stripping and the installation of low-flow water saving devices and energy efficient appliances.
Due to a reduction in funding for LIHEAP to pre-COVID levels, Spectrum has been reducing its services within the program.
“Unfortunately, we’re not able to help everybody that is coming to us,” Calvert said.
Also, the number of households they served has declined because each household has become more expensive with the rise in material and labor costs as well as the addition of eligible items like dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers.
If not for LIHEAP services, households may turn to loans and grants for home repairs offered through cities or seek assistance from churches.
Bottom line, Calvert said, “It’s not easy out there.”
Outside of the Tri-Valley, Spectrum also offers fall-prevention programs — locally provided by CityServe of the Tri-Valley — as well as congregate meals in cities including Alameda, Castro Valley, Hayward, Oakland, San Leandro and Union City. Learn more at spectrumcs.org.
With regard to the national freeze of federal funding under President Donald Trump, Calvert said the future of Spectrum is uncertain.
“I expect a bumpy ride for a while,” she said. Without federal funding, she doesn’t know whether Spectrum could continue to exist. It definitely wouldn’t operate at the same level of current day, she added.
According to Calvert, LIHEAP generally receives bipartisan support. But even that support is up in the air.
Also at risk is its Meals on Wheels program, which receives the majority of its funding from the federal government, either directly or indirectly through cities, she said.
Reflecting upon shelter-in-place during COVID, Calvert said Spectrum stepped up its Meals on Wheels program to serve the community. Just like the fire department and police, people expected Spectrum to provide.
“If we’re going to be here for the next emergency, then we need to be here every day for people when they have their own personal emergencies and they reach out to us and ask for help,” she said. “The only way we can do that is to be supported everyday, every year.”
These programs must not be allowed to go away. We have a robust non-profit network here in the Tri-Valley, and this is a time for us to pull together and ensure these most vital programs are able to continue. All those of us who are involved with those organizations must keep a close eye on one another, and band together to make absolutely certain the most vulnerable among us continue to be fed. Anything less is unacceptable.