When times are tough and budgets are tight, nutritious food is often the first thing households sacrifice to make ends meet. But when someone can only afford food with low nutritional value, it can impact their health over time – especially for children and older adults. That’s why Ozarks Food Harvest is piloting a Food is Medicine approach to help seniors maintain a balanced diet.
Currently, one-third of the people served by Ozarks Food Harvest’s network of hunger-relief charities are 65 or older. Many of these seniors live on fixed incomes that limit their access to basic necessities like food.
As adults over age 65 become one of the largest groups served by Ozarks Food Harvest’s hunger-relief network, we’ve made it a priority to ensure they have the food they need – the same way caretaker Bobbi prioritizes the well-being of her client, 87-year-old Charlotte.
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.
“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.”
Kathy Vinson enjoyed 50 years of partnership with her husband. It’s been a journey since he passed of learning to make decisions and try new things on her own, and while not always easy, Kathy knew she needed to be around people as part of the healing process. She found her outlet helping end hunger with Ozarks Food Harvest.
Temperatures were below freezing at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (SEAS) Catholic Church’s monthly food distribution in January. Days like those are hard work for the entirely volunteer-run distribution team, but volunteers say it’s worth it to help their neighbors facing hunger.
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 food delivery service, she travelled to the senior center one Friday afternoon to get food to take home.
An important part of aging is staying connected – to people and resources – but for older adults, staying connected is more difficult. If you’re a senior in the Bolivar area, SeniorAge Bolivar is ready to connect you to the food and services you need to thrive at the Polk County Senior Center.
For seniors in rural Missouri, greater travel distances make rituals we take for granted, like trips to the grocery store or dinner with friends, a challenge. But the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) Region X is making sure seniors in one of Missouri’s most rural areas maintain the healthy and joyful quality of life they’ve earned.