Linn County funding to help meal service program expand

CENTRAL CITY - Officials for a Central City-based meal delivery program say a new source of reliable funding will allow them to expand their services to more residents across the northern part of Linn County.

Starting this July, Linn County's annual budget is to include funding for Central City Senior Dining, a program run by the city that served more than 3,000 meals and delivered nearly 14,000 more this past year.

The funding is to be included as part of the fiscal year 2018 budget to be approved by the Linn County Board of Supervisors this spring, said Sue Novak, financial management director for Linn County Community Services. The change ensures the program receives annual funding, said Linn County Supervisor Brent Oleson, adding many people don't understand that county funding is meant for more than roads and a jail,

'To me, the county is the safety net for those who fall through the safety net, and that's why these programs are important,” he said.

Meal service funding

Linn County already provides annual funding for the Horizons Meals on Wheels program, which is expected to continue, Novak said. In 2015, Horizons received more than $79,000 from the county and in 2016 received about $98,000. About 950 meals per day are delivered five days a week to residents in the Cedar Rapids area through the Horizons program.

Thought county officials don't yet know how much will be budgeted for the Central City meal program, they do have some history in contributing to its cause. In 2015 and 2016, the county earmarked $16,000 in surplus funds for the program. Determining how much is included in the upcoming budget partly depends on how much Central City officials request.

LaNeil McFadden, administrator for Central City, said past funding from the county has been used to pay mileage for the program's volunteer drivers. She said without guaranteed funding, program officials were considering a reduction of services.

'We weren't going to close the doors on our center, but we could not continue to serve rural areas and other communities if we did not get this funding,” she said.

Central City Senior Dining offers communal dining at the Falcon Civic Center, 137 Fourth St. North, as well as a meal delivery service five days a week for about 150 senior clients. Through the program, meals are delivered to Central City and other communities in northern Linn County, including Coggon, Prairieburg, Walker, Waubeek and Alburnett, as well as rural homes in the area, said Hollie Kane, director of Central City Senior Dining.

With the additional funds from the county, the program coordinators are now considering adding Center Point to the home delivery route.

'Right now, we're in a good position to keep the program going like we have,” added McFadden, noting that in the past year, 13,792 meals have been delivered and another 3,112 have been served at the dining center.

Filling the gap

Karl Cassell, president and CEO of Horizons, 819 Fifth St. SE, Cedar Rapids, said funding his organization receives from Linn County helps cover the gap between actual cost of the meals and the meal reimbursement. Actual cost, he said, is around $7, and the reimbursement Horizons receives from the Heritage Area Agency on Aging - a tax funded human service program that serves seven Iowa counties - is about $3 per meal.

'So without the county's support, we would do that many less meals,” Cassell said, adding the average yearly income of the seniors in the program is about $11,000.

Novak said Horizons' funding from the county has come through a combination of budgeted funds and additional money awarded at year's end from surplus funds. In 2015, Horizons received more than $54,000 in budgeted funds, well as an additional $25,000 award. In 2016, Horizons received more than $83,000 in budgeted funds, plus a $15,000 award.

Officials from the Horizons and Central City programs looked to the county for support after seeing continued reduction in federal aid through the Heritage Area Agency on Aging, which allocates federal dollars from the Older Americans Act.

Funding from the Older Americans Act, which supports services such as home meal delivery, has lost ground over the last several years due to an increasing senior population across the country, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

'A number of years ago, the congregate meals sites were all changed and a lot of it was all reduced because of federal funding,” Oleson said. 'Central City isn't served by Horizons and since I represent Central City and Marion, I was always trying to find money for it to keep it going.

'I think they got tired of me finding it here or there.”

'Able to continue”

Adding to the challenge in Central City is the fact that the city has cut back its funding for the meal program expenses, McFadden said.

'We couldn't justify spending Central City tax dollars,” she said, noting the city contributed more than $15,000 to help cover $112,824 in expenses in 2015, and $10,000 to help cover $119,494 in expenses in 2016.

'Central City, over the last 20 years, took care of funding for other communities,” Kane said. 'It came to the point that it was costing the city so much that they had to cut their funding to us.”

Officials in surrounding communities served by the Central City program were asked to help cover costs. In 2015 and 2016, the towns of Coggon, Prairieburg and Walker paid for the difference in cost between federal reimbursement and actual meal costs, McFadden said.

The county funding comes as a relief to Kane.

'I love it,” she said. 'It makes me feel real good we're able to continue.”

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