Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland, Inc. (MOWCM) has been a partner with the Maryland Department of Human Resources for more than a decade, helping vulnerable, difficult to reach older adults access benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program. Over the years, we have watched as the need has grown, and the price of food dramatically increased while the benefit has remained essentially flat.
This critical service has become more important as programs like ours have been forced to create a waiting list for our meal delivery service. Having SNAP benefits fill the gap while waiting for subsidized meals to become available, and even after meals are available (given that only 12 meals per week are provided) is essential to fill thegap and support successful aging.
During the time period of 10/1 23- 2/29/24- there were 1,130 inquiries for assistance with SNAP benefits to MOWCM, 213 applications were submitted with our assistance and 157 applicants were approved. These numbers will only go up, demonstrating the immense need for this benefit. At $75 per month, we are only beginning to fill thegap. Please help us make sure that vulnerable older adults are well nourished and healthy so that they may age in place, saving the already overburdened health care system significant dollars, as noted in the recent research article completed with the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center: