Every meal matters
As federal funding stalls, the Council on Aging faces impossible choices, but your donation will unlock more to help vulnerable seniors
By Cynthia Reeves
The Council on Aging is a lifeline for elderly clients like Mary. Mary lives alone and depends on Meals on Wheels for proper nutrition. The services also protect her from isolation. Stanley, her Meals on Wheels driver for the past four years, looks out for her. Recently, he made sure a path to her home blocked by construction was clear so she could come and go as needed.
“I have not been blocked since!” Mary said.
FUNDING DECREASES
Despite the caring nature of the staff and administration, the Council on Aging of West Florida has been facing barriers and hurdles, leading to difficult decisions to reduce some feeding program offerings. In addition to the delivered meals, there are also dining sites in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties that serve nearly 800 vulnerable seniors each day. The sites also provide much-needed socialization.
Funding decreased this year, and the nonprofit has been told to anticipate more decreases in 2026. Josh Newby, local president and CEO, describes the dilemma like “driving through a rear-view mirror.” Since he doesn’t have all the numbers, “it is nearly impossible to budget and make operational decisions.”
Dozens of elderly people may be on waitlists for the site-based meals, but he doesn’t know if he can afford to serve them. He faces tapering some off, starting with those who are less isolated, rather than those with no family or support network.
The congregate feeding sites were offered Monday through Friday. They are in senior apartments, community centers, churches and retirement villages. Seniors could come get a hot meal and take part in activities. First, Mondays were removed from the schedule, and now Fridays have been as well. Finally, the community director was forced to suspend Wednesday’s hot meals and serve simple shelf-stable options, such as peanut butter sandwiches or crackers.
Newby explains the budget woes are in part due to issues with federal funding. Since 1972, the Council on Aging has received a substantial part of its operating expenses from the Older Americans Act, established during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. Another 40 percent is state funding, with philanthropy, fundraising and local grants providing about two percent of its revenue.
Unfortunately, Newby says the federal funding has “not increased since the 1990s and has not kept up with inflation.” A meal that costs $10 now might have cost $2 then.
Another issue is that the share of state and federal funding allocated to Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties has decreased compared to some rural parts of the state and even urban areas like Miami and Dade counties in South Florida.
Newby looks at funding shortages in 2026 as a “guessing game.” It could be 1% or 5%. Any decrease means someone goes without. He stresses, “Even 2% looks dramatic.”
Since funds are shifted around to four different categories of services, reductions could impact the dining sites or toileting, bathing, or shopping assistance for bedbound clients. It is a picture he doesn’t want to envision.
Sadly, he says, “Any client has the potential to be cut.”
To add to the uncertainty, the government shutdown in October created an “unpredictable funding environment.” Newby said, “that makes the Council on Aging hesitant to add more client services.”
DONATIONS AND HELP
There are ways to help. Marketing and Communications Director Emily Echevarria explains that “for every dollar someone donates, there is about $9 available from state and federal matching funds.”
In October, the nonprofit held its black tie “Rat Pack Reunion” fundraiser for the first time in many years. Administrators are also doing some grant writing. Supporters are encouraged to make a donation by visiting the Council on Aging website, writing a check to the center or dropping off a donation at any of the feeding sites. Echevarria suggests that individuals consider COA as part of their estate planning. The nonprofit will take donations in most forms, including stocks.
It is the uncertainty that worries administrators so much. Newby doesn’t want to see a single vulnerable person miss a meal or a much-needed home visit.
