by Vanguard Staff
WOODLAND, Calif. – A $150,000 investment by Sutter Health is boosting the future of senior nutrition programs in Yolo, Yuba and Sutter counties by expanding access to meals for older adults and strengthening the fiscal sustainability of Meals on Wheels programs in the region.
The initiative, titled Eat Well, Age Well: Yolo + Yuba/Sutter Seniors, builds on previous capacity investments that have fueled Meals on Wheels Yolo County’s 300 percent growth in senior meal services since early 2022. It also supports the program’s expansion into medically tailored meals and the production of meals for other nonprofit nutrition providers.
Meanwhile, Meals on Wheels Yuba and Sutter Counties, which is administered by Agency on Aging Area 4, will be able to serve dozens of older adults who had been stuck on nutrition waitlists due to funding shortages.
“This partnership was a clear choice for Sutter Health because it aligns with our community health investment priorities and brings innovative, collaborative solutions to our communities,” said Angelika Corchado, Director of Community Health for Sutter Health’s Greater Sacramento Division. “Yolo, Yuba and Sutter Counties have growing senior populations, and many older adults face barriers to much needed resources, especially in rural communities. Supporting programs like Meals on Wheels helps increase access to nutritious meals, which is a powerful way to prevent chronic diseases, and in this way treats food as medicine. We’re proud to support these efforts to improve the health and well-being of older adults in our region.”
The funds are already being used to purchase institutional frozen storage equipment and lease space for MOW Yuba/Sutter. Once installed in October, Meals on Wheels Yolo will begin 12 months of consistent production and delivery of both medically tailored and standard frozen meals to Yuba and Sutter counties. That expansion is expected to serve at least 42 older adults, each receiving five meals per week.
“At a time when diminished funding has resulted in a reduction in our ability to provide nutrition to every senior who needs it, this investment by Sutter Health offers hope and healthy meals to more local older adults,” said Brittany Lathrop, Program Manager/Developer for MOW Yuba/Sutter. “Not only are we able to do more immediately, but the uplift in our frozen storage capacity portends the potential for a deeper, cost-efficient partnership with MOW Yolo over time to sustain and expand the increased availability of nutrition to seniors in our communities”.
Joy Cohan, Executive Director of MOW Yolo, emphasized the importance of preserving gains made with pandemic-era funding. “No senior welcomed to MOW Yolo services over the past three years thanks to American Rescue Plan pandemic dollars, or any other public or private source, has been stripped of nutrition access to date due to a lack of funding,”
Cohan said. “Preserving the once-in-a-lifetime impact of those investments is MOW Yolo’s highest priority, followed closely by the continued pursuit of ongoing funding sufficient to meet the full nutrition and socialization needs of the more than 8,000 Yolo County seniors living in poverty.”
MOW Yolo currently provides meals to over 1,100 seniors through both home delivery and Café Yolo congregate dining programs. It also produces meals under contract for other nonprofits, including Dignity Health’s Yolo Adult Day Health Center in Woodland, Yolo Cares’ Galileo Place Adult Day Center in Davis, Joshua’s House Hospice in Sacramento, and Chico State Enterprises/Passages Area on Aging for Chico and Colusa County.
“It’s an honor to add Agency on Aging Area 4’s MOW Yuba/Sutter program to this esteemed list of meal partners, thanks to Sutter Health’s confidence in both organizations to fund this innovative partnership,” Cohan said. “To the extent that this partnership can be sustained and expanded over time to ensure that more seniors in Yolo, Yuba and Sutter Counties are able to age in place healthily and safely, we are grateful and inspired to be involved.”
Plans are underway to celebrate the start of meal deliveries in Yuba and Sutter counties this fall, with participation from Sutter Health, Meals on Wheels representatives, local dignitaries and supporters.
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