Meals on Wheels Chicago:
Partnership Structure
Table of Contents
1. Partnership Explanation
2. Organization Mission
3. About Meals on Wheels Chicago
4. MOWC: Our Role in the Home Delivered Meals & the Home
Modification Programs
5. Our Partners: Chicago Department of Family and Support
Services & the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities
6. Open Kitchens: Preparing and Delivering Meals
Program Partners & How We
Work Together
• Meals on Wheels Chicago is a registered 501 (c)(3) tax exempt
organization that was established in 1987.
• The organization was established to raise private funds- through events,
grants/foundations, and individual giving- to help financially support two
existing city programs: Home Delivered Meals and Home Modification.
• The Chicago Department of Family and Support Services- Senior Services
Area Agency on Aging oversees the Home Delivered Meals program.
• The Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities oversees Home
Modification.
• Meals on Wheels Chicago is strictly a fundraising office. We do not
provide services, but rather, rely on our city partners to run program
operations and case management of all clients enrolled in the program.
• A third partner- Open Kitchens- is responsible for meal preparation and
delivery.
Mission
To ensure homebound senior citizens and individuals with
disabilities in Chicago maintain dignified and independent
lifestyles by providing them with warm nutritious meals
and related services.
About Meals on Wheels Chicago
• Meals on Wheels was founded in 1987 as a joint public private
partnership to privately raise supplemental funds to support our city
partners. The agencies we support through financial grants are the
Chicago Department of Family and Support Services and the Mayors
Office for People with Disabilities.
• Funding goes specifically to two programs:
– Home Delivered Meals to home-bound senior citizens in Chicago
– Home Mod which provides home modifications to individuals with
disabilities age 59 and younger
• In 2009, Meals on Wheels Chicago granted over half million dollars in
support of the Home Mod and Home Delivered Meals programs.
(Continued)
Meals on Wheels Chicago (cont.)
• Meals on Wheels Chicago receives no government funding.
• Over 4 million meals were delivered in 2010 to home bound seniors
citizens through the Chicago Department of Senior Services and the
Meals on Wheels program.
• The Home Mod program just completed their 600th home renovation in
early 2011.
Meals on Wheels Chicago’s Role in
the Home Delivered Meal Program
• Meals on Wheels Chicago provides funding for the following programs:
– 6 holidays: New Years, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day,
Thanksgiving and Christmas.
– Weekend and short-term emergency meals.
• In 2010 Meals on Wheels Chicago provided:
– 42,000 meals over 6 holidays to Chicago’s home-bound seniors.
– 27,000 meals weekend and emergency meals to Chicago’s homebound seniors.
(Continued)
MOWC’s Role (cont.)
• We are the only adjunct program in the city providing services on the
weekends to seniors.
• By partnering with an existing program, we are helping to capacity build
verses duplicating efforts.
• Meals on Wheels Chicago is a vital component in funding the Chicago
Department of Family and Support Services as they continue to lose
federal, state and city funding.
Meals on Wheels Chicago’s Role in
the Home Modification Program
• Meals on Wheels Chicago provides funding for the Home Modification
program, which enables individuals with disabilities to achieve a higher
level of independence in their homes.
• Modification projects cost $10,000 per and include the installation of grab
bars, ramps, lifts, and kitchen/bathroom modifications.
• In 2010, Meals on Wheels Chicago funded three complete modifications
($30,000) and anticipate eleven in 2011.
Chicago Department of Family & Support
Services, Senior Services Area Agency on Aging
•
The Senior Services Area Agency on Aging manages and oversees all intake and
case management for the home delivered meal program.
•
Funding is received via three sources:
– Federal & State Funding: 8 million in 2010
– City Funding: 2 million in 2010
– Private Funding via Meals on Wheels Chicago
•
Each year, over 11,000 unduplicated clients receive home delivered meals.
•
Meal deliveries are provided free of charge to individuals 60 years of age or
older living inside of the City of Chicago.
•
All meals are prepared and delivered through a contracted food facility, Open
Kitchens which ensures consistent service.
•
The City estimates that the home delivered meal program is the single most cost
effective preventative social service in the city.
Chicago’s Mayor’s Office for People with
Disabilities
• MOPD promotes total access, full participation, and equal opportunity for
people with disabilities of all ages, in all aspects of life.
• In 2010, MOPD completed 76 home modifications, each job averaging
$10,000 a piece. Since 1999, 600 modifications have been completed.
• HomeMod projects allow for a higher level of independence by providing
safe and suitable living environments.
• These projects allow people with disabilities to fully participate in
employment, recreation, and education, while also improve the housing
stock in the city of Chicago.
Open Kitchens:
Executing the Prep & Delivery
•
Open Kitchens, a Chicago based food production facility, is the primary
distributor of our home delivered meals.
•
They produce a cost-efficient, three-tiered food plan of hot, chilled and frozen
meals.
•
Open Kitchens drivers provide two meals per day, which meet two-thirds of the
recommended daily allowance of nutrients, five days a week, to over 11,000
homebound seniors and serve over 3.7 million meals a year.
•
Open Kitchens operates a fleet of 22 specially outfitted delivery trucks that run
service routes daily.
•
Drivers provide consistent delivery, free from service disruption, as well as one
of the city’s most cost effective preventative social services. The driver is the
first to notice and report any change in a client’s physical or mental status.