A proposal to eliminate a senior dining site in Stevens Point is back on the table, one year after the Portage County Board of Supervisors found last-minute funding to keep it going.
Janet Zander, Portage County Aging & Disability Resource Center (ADRC) director, said the county does not have funds to maintain the senior dining site at Hi-Rise Manor in Stevens Point in 2013.
Zander said Family Care funding for home-delivered meals has been on a downward trend since 2008, following seven years of rapid increases. “That has been really hard on the program as we have been trying to serve people throughout the county but have less money to do that,” she said.
Zander said that although the county has less money, it wants to maintain the primary goal of the program, which she said is to make sure it provides the nutrition services necessary to help people live independently. “Those nutrition services are met by promoting better health through nutrition as well as reduced isolation,” she said. “The only way we can do that is through some efficiencies in the program. We can’t stop serving all around the county, so the only way we can do that is to figure out a way to do that better.”
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She said this program allows the county to check in on its elderly population. Adam Borys, a volunteer driver for the Amherst route, said being part of this program has given him a chance to give back to our neighbors, who are elderly and homebound. “Clients are often at nutritional risk; frail, chronically ill, or disabled. Most are no longer able to shop and/or prepare meals for themselves,” he said. “I enjoy visiting with our neighbors. I’m so happy I am able to be part of this program, and my rewards are smiles and hugs from our neighbors. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
People seeking more information should call the ADRC at 715-346-1401 or 866-920-2525.
