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Meal Delivery

To Cancel Meal Delivery

To Resume Meal Delivery

Funding & Cost Share Contributions

Complaints, Compliments or Concerns

Meals on Wheels

Eligibility

To be eligible to receive meals, our clients:

	are primarily homebound;
	have difficulty preparing a nutritious meal;
	have no consistent daytime help with meal preparation;
	are able to accept meals between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on weekdays, or to cancel meals ahead of time if not at home.

Persons who apply for regular, ongoing service receive home visits by social workers to assess clients' needs and initiate service. Short-term service is also available for people who need home-delivered meals temporarily.

To apply for Meals on Wheels, call us at and ask for the social worker on duty; or send e-mail to our

Meal Choices

Menus are planned and prepared under the supervision of a registered dietitian. All meals provide at least one third of the daily RDA of nutrients and also meet the goals of the Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health. They are:

	Low in fat (30% of calories or less from fat, a maximum of 35 grams of fat; contains 10% of calories or less from saturated fat).
	Low in sodium (a maximum of 1500 mg).
	Low in sugar.
	A good source of vitamin C and calcium with each meal.
	A good source of vitamin A at least twice a week.

The following meal choices are available:

	The "Regular Meal" is prepared without the addition of simple sugars and is designed to provide less fat and sodium than the typical American diet. No additional salt is added during preparation. The menus are therefore suitable for diabetics and are based on a meal pattern for calorie ADA diet.
	The "Soft Meal" , or soft mechanical meal, has been designed for persons with arthritis or dental problems. This diet is very similar to the regular diet except that it is easier to chew. Most entrees and side dishes will be chopped or made with bite-size pieces, or a substitute item may be used to replace a regular menu item (i.e. applesauce instead of an apple.
	The "Bland Meal" is a conservative bland diet. It is suitable for people with digestive disorders such as ulcers, diverticulitis and hiatial hernias. Foods and spices which commonly irritate the stomach and intestines or cause gas are restricted. These include cabbage, broccoli, beans, citrus fruits, tomatoes, black and red pepper, chili powder and more.
	The "Pureed Meal" is suitable for persons who have had a stroke or cannot chew and swallow foods easily. All entrees and side dishes will be pureed in a food processor until a paste consistency is reached. Water or broth may be added so the foods will retain a consistency to be easily spooned. Bread products are not changed.
	The "Low Potassium" meal is for people experiencing degrees of kidney failure or liver disorders. It limits the intake of protein, sodium and potassium. These levels are based on a 60 gram protein, 2 gram sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) diet. This diet will only be served with a physician's order.
	"Combination Meals" such as soft/bland are also available. A registered dietitian is available to guide you in your meal selection.

Meal Delivery

The Meals on Wheels program provides six meals a week. Meals are delivered Monday through Friday between 10:45 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.

On Friday a double pack is delivered which contains a frozen meal for Saturday.

Most of the time meals are delivered by volunteers who are donating their time. Get to know them! Ask their names, where they work and what they do. Please be understanding if they are running late.

If the weather is bad, or if a substitute driver is delivering your route, you may not receive your meal at the usual time.

If you have not received your meal by 1:15 p.m., please call: .

To Cancel Meal Delivery

If you are not going to be home between 10:45 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. for meal delivery, please call by 4:30 of the day before, or, leave a message at the same number before 8:00 a.m. (A final meal count is given to the kitchen at 8:00 a.m.)

If it is after 8:00 a.m. that you find that you will not be home for delivery, we ask that you still call the office as soon as possible. Late cancellations will be manually processed until the time that vans leave our kitchen (around 10:00 a.m.)

To Resume Meal Delivery

To start meal delivery after it has been cancelled for more than one day, follow the same instructions given above.

However, meals cannot be resumed on the same day that you call if it is after 8:00 a.m.

Rules and Guidelines

Be sure your house address can be seen easily from the street. Replace numbers which are missing or have been painted over. If you need numbers or help, call .
State regulations require that volunteers see the meal recipient. Please help by coming to the door to receive your meal whenever possible. If you can not do this, please allow the volunteer to come to your room whenever possible.
Notify us when you are not going to be home to receive meals. Cancel your meals whenever possible the day before.
Volunteers are instructed not to honor notes. For security reasons it is not a good idea for you to leave a note on your door asking that your meal be left someplace else. The Health Department will not allow us to leave meals outside.
Dogs and other animals must be restrained at the time of meal delivery. For safety reasons, volunteers have been instructed not to deliver meals if there is an unrestrained animal. Remember: State Law (Rabies Control Act) and City Ordinance require that all animals be vaccinated regularly and registered with the City. If a volunteer or staff member is bitten while attempting to deliver a meal, you can be held responsible for the impoundment, observation, vaccination and registration of the animal. If the animal is found to be rabid, you will be responsible for the cost of treating the injured volunteer or staff member.
The safety of our volunteers is very important. Please notify us at if any potential delivery hazard exists (for example, fallen step or rotted porch board.)
Volunteers may ask to use your phone. We ask volunteers to call from the next stop on their route if the previous meal recipient was not at home.

Care Calls

Care Calls is a program which matches its seniors and homebound people with volunteer callers.

Two options are available:

to receive brief daily calls to check on your well being, or

to receive longer calls (15 to 20 minutes) a coupld of times a week to engage in friendly conversation.

This program is available to homebound persons in the Austin telephone exchange are.

To become a Care Calls client, call or send an e-mail to our The coordinator will ask you some questions about yourself, your interests and hobbies to be able to select the best available volunteer for you.

Groceries To Go

The Groceries To Go program recruits, trains and matches volunteers with clients:

to shop for the client, or
provide transportation to and from the store and assist the client with grocery shopping,

once or twice a month on an ongoing basis.

Short term service is also available.

This program is open to persons who:

	are primarily homebound;
	cannot shop for groceries without help;
	do not have family members or friends who can help them consistently.

Persons who need this service can enroll by calling or sending an e-mail to our . Please call a week or more before the first grocery trip. Applicants for regular, ongoing service will receive a home visit by a social worker before a volunteer is assigned.

Medi Wheels

The Medi Wheels program provides rides to medical appointments and back home again by volunteer drivers. This service is available to:

	Homebound people
	who live in Austin, and
	whose family members or friends are not able to provide transportation as frequently as needed.

Because this is a volunteer program, it is limited to persons who do not require a wheel chair to get to the appointment.

Persons who want to use this service can enroll by calling or sending an e-mail to our

Please call a week or more before the appointment for which a ride is needed. Applicants receive an initial home visit by a social worker before the coordinator can fill requests for rides.

Once enrolled, it is preferred that requests for rides be made at least one week before an appointment. Requests will not be accepted when made less than three working days before an appointment.

Requests are limited to one ride per week.

It is not guaranteed that all requests can be filled. Requests for appointments between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. are the easiest to fill. The coordinator will try to fill each request up to 24 hours before the appointment. At that time the coordinator will contact the client to let the client know that no volunteer driver is available to provide the requested ride.

When a volunteer driver has been found, the coordinator will contact the client and give the name of the volunteer. The volunteer will call the client the day before the appointment to confirm the time.

Handy Wheels

Our Handy Wheels program provides minor home safety repairs and is reserved for clients of Meals on Wheels and More. It is a volunteer program that helps create a safe and secure environment in the clients' homes.

On the second Saturday of each month, between 9:00 a.m and 1:00 p.m. volunteers bring their tools and congregate at the Meals on Wheels and More office to participate in a Handy Wheels "workday." They leave our office with job requests for tasks which need to be done at clients' homes and the materials to do the jobs.

Volunteers are available to come to your home to:

	change light bulbs;
	put house numbers on your house and paint your house numbers on your curb;
	install smoke detectors or change the batteries in existing ones;
	change air conditioning filters;
	replace switch or outlet plates;
	replace the flapper valve in your toilet;
	install safety bars in your bathroom;
	install a doorbell on your front door;
	install a peephole in your front door.

Other repairs not included on the list will be considered. Volunteers cannot install or repair locks or make plumbing or electrical repairs.

It is not guaranteed that all job requests will be done on the Saturday work day. There are not always enough volunteers to do all of the jobs that day. However, volunteers often offer to do pending jobs later in the month.

You will be asked to make a contribution toward the cost of the materials required to complete your job.

To use this service please call or send an e-mail to our

Funding and Cost Share

Meals on Wheels and More is able to provide services to over 2,800 people a year because of the funding which it receives from:

	Texas Department of Human Services;
	U.S. Department of Agriculture;
	United Way/Capital Area;
	Texas Department of Aging through a grant from the Area Agency on Aging of the Capital Area;
	Corporate and community support; and
	Cost share contributions of clients who receive services.

Meals on Wheels and More believes in giving clients an opportunity to "share" in the cost of the services provided to them through voluntary contributions.

Each month reminders and return envelopes are sent to non-D.H.S. clients who have received meals, rides or shopping trips from one of Meals on Wheels and More's programs.

Cost share contributions are voluntary. Reminders will show a suggested contribution. However, clients decide what amount they are able to contribute each month. No one is denied service because of inability to pay.

Cost share contributions are important! They supply a significant part of the operating budget. Because of cost share contributions, Meals on Wheels and More is able to continue to provide its present level of services to all those who need the services.

Complaints, Compliments or Concerns

We want to hear from you. Please call us at .

Ask to talk with a social worker, program coordinator or one of the people listed below:

	Mary Teeters, Director of Programs, oversees client eligibility and client services.
	Suellen Mills, Director of Volunteer Services, oversees volunteer training and the delivery of meals and other services by volunteers.
	Javier Garza, is the Executive Director.