DOGE cuts have consequences

After I knock on a Meals on Wheels client's door, I ask, "How are you doing?" Yesterday one client's answer was, "OK I guess," but the downcast look on his face said otherwise. He explained that he hadn't received his Social Security check that usually arrives around the first of the month. Therefore, he couldn't pay his rent and his landlord was hassling him every day. This kind, gentle man lives in low-income housing and is tethered to an oxygen tank. He relies on Meals on Wheels for food and on Social Security to pay his rent. He said he had been on the phone with Social Security for an hour trying to find a resolution but was told they would look into it and get back to him. Meanwhile the threat of eviction hangs over him.

This is an example of the real-life consequences of DOGE cuts to programs the infirm and elderly rely on. As reported in The Gazette on July 11, DOGE resulted in the loss of thousands of workers at Social Security, leaving the agency shorthanded to assist callers. Many clients have anxiously asked me if Meals on Wheels will be affected by DOGE cuts. I can only answer, "Not yet." Sen. Joni Ernst and Rep. Ashley Hinson supported DOGE cuts to programs their constituents rely on to live, while they voted to give tax breaks to billionaires. Remember this at the ballot box next year.

Sheri Albrecht

Solon