The new year will bring expanded services and a new name to the Meals on Wheels program in Coweta County. The re-named Meals on Wheels of Coweta, Inc. currently serves 60 older residents, one-third of whom live in east Coweta, and in 2012 will be introducing a handyman program and another that provides in-home visits.
Organization president Lizabeth Andrew said the Council on Aging for Newnan and Coweta County, Inc. underwent reorganization in 2011 and will start 2012 with a new name and a new operational foundation for Coweta’s Meals on Wheels program. The Council on Aging is changing its name to Meals on Wheels of Coweta, Inc. to more clearly reflect the organization’s mission and purpose, Andrew said.
Andrew said Meals on Wheels of Coweta, Inc. focuses on serving older adults who are most at risk for poor nutrition and declining health, those who are homebound because of illness or disability or are on home hospice care and are no longer able to prepare meals for themselves.
“The goal is to help clients live as independently and safely as possible, for as long as possible, in their own homes,” Andrew said. “Research has shown that home delivered meals not only improve health and quality of life but also can help delay or prevent admission to an assisted living or nursing home facility.”
Nearly one-third of the clients currently served by Meals on Wheels of Coweta live in the East Coweta and Senoia area. Consequently, Meals on Wheels of Coweta is working closely with the mayor’s office in Senoia to promote the program and recruit new volunteers to deliver meals in the greater Senoia area, said Andrew.
Senoia Councilman Larry Owens is among those that have joined the ranks of the volunteers.
“Senoia can benefit by making elder care organizations such as Meals on Wheels, Source, and the Community Care Services Program,” said Owens. “These are caregiving
organizations that can help avoid adult protective services intervention. The city of Senoia needs to do more for its aging citizens, those people who made Senoia what it is today.
We can do more and it’s important to provide more options for care to our elders.”
Additional changes for 2012 include two new free services associated with Meals on Wheels of Coweta. A Handyman program will focus on making minor home repairs and a Friendly Visitor program will offer regular visits and companionship to Meals on Wheels clients.
“The Handyman volunteers will help make clients’ homes safer by installing assistive devices like wheelchair ramps and grab bars and completing simple tasks like repairing loose stairs and railings and changing light bulbs,” said Andrew. “Friendly visitors will stop by to see clients regularly to talk, share craft activities, read, play games and make sure that the client is doing well.”
Andrew stressed that, like other non-profit organizations, Meals on Wheels of Coweta, Inc. faces three major challenges. Those include finding the funding to accomplish its mission, recruiting enough volunteers to provide the services and educating the community about the services provided.
“All other challenges pale in comparison. Without funding, volunteers, and community recognition the program cannot survive,” Andrew said. “Volunteers are the heart of any non-profit organization and are especially critical to the success of Meals on Wheels. All the planning, contributions and good intentions are in vain if there aren’t enough volunteers to deliver the much needed food and provide the human contact so vital to clients’ well-being. Along with meals the volunteers deliver smiles, hope, and the reassurance that clients have not been forgotten.”
The Council on Aging is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has sponsored Meals on Wheels in Newnan and Coweta County since the 1970s, according to Andrew.
“Like many other non-profit organizations, the Council on Aging’s program helps bridge the gap in community services that are not met by other private, corporate, or governmental agencies,” Andrew said. “In 2010 the Council on Aging’s Meals on Wheels program provided over 12,000 home delivered meals to approximately 50 clients, five days per week. In 2011 the target number was increased to 60 clients. Even though the Council on Aging provides the largest home delivered meals program in Coweta County, only a small fraction of the older adults who need Meals on Wheels can be served.”
The program is currently supported by donations from the community and by grant funds from the United Way and is staffed mainly by volunteers, Andrews said, adding that no city, county, or state funds are received. Unfortunately current funding and volunteer staffing levels are too low to support more clients, she said.
Meals on Wheels of Coweta is a member of the Meals on Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) and the Meals on Wheels Association of Georgia (MOWAG) and is designated as the official Coweta County Chapter of Meals on Wheels. Please contact the Meals on Wheels office at 678-423-1700 for more information about volunteering or donating to the program.
