For too many of San Diego’s low income and homeless older adults, food insecurity is a daily struggle. Finding a decent meal is challenging. Nearly one in four people in San Diego County are food insecure with 170,000 of them being 60 and older.
Serving Seniors is the largest provider of meals to San Diego County older adults since its inception in 1970, and of home-delivered meals for over 30 years. At the most basic level, our team works hard 365 days a year to ensure no older adult goes to bed hungry.
Last year, we provided 1.4 million meals. Serving Seniors feels privileged to serve this need but dismayed at the ongoing and growing need. With so much uncertainty right now, it is clear that our nutrition program is essential for seniors in need.
At a time when our meal service is more vital to the well being of our region’s older adults than ever, it is at risk due to the potential loss of federal funding during budget negotiations by Congress ahead of a looming March 14 funding deadline.
In December, Congress approved a continuing resolution passed in place of approving a new budget. The Senate’s version of the continuing resolution included funding for the Older Americans Act. But the version that passed the House of Representatives failed to include the OAA.
For now, organizations like Serving Seniors are still receiving funding to support our nutrition programs. But the Older Americans Act is vulnerable to a new federal budget, which President Donald Trump and both houses of Congress must approve.
Every five years, the Older Americans Act must be reauthorized. The Older Americans Reauthorization Act of 2024 (Senate Bill 4776) would authorize $15.2 billion for OAA programs from 2025–2029. This legislation would improve support and address rising costs of service delivery and the needs of a growing older population.
California receives $160 million annually for core services depending on local needs, including nutrition, transportation, support for caregivers, recreation, and in-home assistance.
While our donors are generous with their support, the federal funding for meals allows Serving Seniors to provide the many critically needed services by stretching our budget to provide all the meals needed by our vulnerable older adults.
Last September, our organization served our 20-millionth meal. There are milestones, and sometimes there are really big milestones. It took us 40 years to serve the first 10 million meals. It took us 10 years to serve the second 10 million meals. It will take us six and a half years to serve the next 10 million meals.
We have the capacity to serve even more older adults, but only if funding permits it. We are working hard to advocate with our elected officials to ensure continued funding and hope all San Diegans will join us.
All meals are prepared fresh daily each morning in the Serving Seniors Potiker Family Residence kitchens in the East Village. Meals are served in six congregate dining room settings. The largest is the Serving Seniors Gary and Mary West Wellness Center at 4th and Beech Streets in downtown San Diego. We also serve meals in City Heights, East San Diego, Oceanside, and recently began meal service in Imperial Beach.
Once a client starts receiving meals, a Serving Seniors case manager meets with each person to determine whether any other services or resources might benefit them, providing an additional outreach opportunity to low-income and homeless older adults. They can access healthcare, exercise classes, walking groups, and civic engagement. Not only do the fresh, nutritious meals provide the basic building blocks of healthy aging, the lively dining room service feeds the soul as well.
To those of us who work with San Diego County’s most vulnerable older adults, a meal is much more than a simple plate of food. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, loneliness and social isolation in older adults are serious public health risks affecting a significant number of people in the U.S., putting them at risk for dementia and other serious medical conditions.
Fred is one of our regular diners. He became disabled and unable to work and found himself on the streets at 63 years old.
“Lots of people assume bad things about the homeless on the streets,” Fred told us. “But I don’t drink, do drugs, or anything. I just haven’t had any income for the past eight years after I had to stop working. I have nothing. No family, no one.”
Serving Seniors was able to assist Fred in finding housing, but it’s the meals he feels most grateful for.
“Whenever I’m at Serving Seniors,” Fred said, “there’s a different feeling. I couldn’t ask for a better place to be. I call it my safe haven. The staff are friendly and caring. The food is great.
The menu is very nutritious. My favorite is chicken leg quarters and rice.”
It’s more than a little ironic that March is Senior Nutrition Month. May it remind our representatives that our country cannot let our older adults down when they need our help the most.
Paul Downey is CEO of Serving Seniors, a San Diego-based nonprofit that helps seniors in poverty live healthy and fulfilling lives.
