Health and Human Services announces $250 million in grants to provide meals for older adults

With the COVID-19 coronavirus continuing its unfold and threatening older older people specially, the U.S. Office of Wellness and Human Expert services has announced $250 million in grants from the Administration for Neighborhood Living to support communities offer meals for older older people.

The Households First Coronavirus Response Act, signed into regulation by President Trump on March 18, supplies the additional funding for the nourishment products and services plans approved by the More mature Us citizens Act of 1965. These plans offer meals to additional than 2.4 million older older people just about every calendar year, equally via property delivery and via destinations this kind of as community facilities.

The need for these products and services, specially property-shipped and packaged meals, has enhanced as community steps to slow transmission of COVID-19 have closed food sites and have left numerous relatives caregivers unable to help their older beloved ones.

What is actually THE Impact?

In addition to meals, More mature Us citizens Act plans offer a wide array of products and services, this kind of as support with bathing and dressing, rides to doctors’ places of work, schooling on taking care of continual health problems and assist for relatives caregivers, as properly as other products and services.

Delivered by a community of community-based mostly companies, this kind of as Location Organizations on Getting older, regional community and senior facilities, faith-based mostly companies, and other non-earnings provider companies, the style and design of the plans is to operate in tandem to support hundreds of thousands of older older people just about every calendar year continue to be nutritious and continue dwelling independently.

Funding has been presented to states, territories and tribes for subsequent allocation to regional food companies. Grant amounts are established based mostly on the populace-based mostly formulation described in the More mature Us citizens Act.

New Hampshire, for instance, gained a grant for $1,200,000. Oregon gained a grant for $3,204,486. A breakdown of grant amounts can be discovered right here.

More mature older people who need aid can contact the Eldercare Locator to uncover products and services readily available in their community. The Eldercare Locator can be achieved at 1-800-677-1116 or https://eldercare.acl.gov/. A lot more data on COVID-19A can be discovered at the Facilities for Disease Management and Prevention’s web page.

THE Larger sized Trend

Wellness officials have warned that even though COVID-19 indicators are mild in most persons, they can be intense in many others, and the elderly populace is amid the most prone to excessive indicators.

Since of that, the use and prevalence of telehealth products and services has been exploding, with an increasing amount of Us citizens addressing their wellness by means of remote technological know-how as communities and culture adapt to social distancing in an work to slow the virus’ unfold.

ON THE History

“The Trump Administration recognizes that the steps needed to shield older Us citizens from the significant risk of COVID-19 have been disruptive for numerous of our most susceptible,” explained HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “Getting additional money to community companies that provide meals to older older people, this kind of as Meals on Wheels, is an additional case in point of the Trump Administration’s whole-of-governing administration, whole-of-America solution to combating the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“The community of community-based mostly companies that offer More mature Us citizens Act products and services has an exceptional capacity to coordinate products and services, convey collectively provider companies, and adapt to overcome difficulties, and they are utilizing impressive solutions to continue food products and services,” explained ACL Administrator Lance Robertson. “This additional funding will support communities throughout the country offer older older people, specially these at biggest risk, with the nutritious meals they need.”

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