Six-year-old Harley lives with her grandparents full-time while her parents figure out a stable place to live. Together, she and her grandparents color, make bead bracelets and play in the yard when the weather is nice. Harley’s grandmother Glenda says they love having Harley around, but raising – and feeding – a grandchild during retirement comes with challenges.
Access to nutritious and healthy food changes lives.
Kaela Anderson, Regional Lead and Administrator at Ozark County Senior Center, received an email a few years ago introducing her to a gentleman on hospice that had been approved for home delivered meals. He was on oxygen 24/7, and had decreased mobility that prevented him from walking even short distances without having to stop. In addition, he wasn’t getting proper nutrition, which left him underweight.
“Seniors are my favorite. They have so much wisdom and good advice.” That’s coming from Joy Pace, SeniorAge center lead at the West Plains Senior Center. “They’ve lived their life and they deserve the respect. They deserve to be taken care of, but sometimes they get forgotten.”
Right here in southwest Missouri, there are thousands of seniors living on fixed incomes who can’t always access nutritious meals. Good nutrition is important at all stages of life, but it’s particularly impactful for adults over age 60. With inflation rising in recent years, Ozarks Food Harvest has taken a closer look at how we can help our elderly neighbors access the food they need to thrive.
When is the last time you tasted a cucumber? What about an orange or an apple? For one home-bound Lamar senior, she couldn’t remember the last time she had tasted fresh produce. After a mistake with her normal home-bound delivery service, she travelled to the senior center one Friday afternoon to get food.
Before the COVID-19 crisis, Mike believed people only cared about you if they wanted something from you. Even when he was short on food and needed help, he wouldn’t ask for it. But during the pandemic, Mike was moved to help his community. He heard about Crosslines and decided to drop off a donation – a decision that led him to comradery, and of course food, that helped him thrive.
“Anyone who wants or needs a meal, we don’t turn anybody down,” said Pat Scheets, a core staff person at the Summersville Senior Center. That’s the attitude of someone who knows the power of a homecooked meal and why the Summersville Senior Center means a lot to their community.
For Chris McCune, working with seniors is a mission much more than it is a job. She’s the regional services director for Care Connection for Aging Services, the umbrella agency that operates the Rivers Crossing Life Center in Osceola. Chris began her career in senior services at the Rivers Crossing Life Center, and her powerful stories remind us why senior centers like these are so impactful.