The so-called ​“sequester,” a package of across-the-board federal budget cuts, could eliminate Meals On Wheels assistance for more than a dozen homebound senior citizens in the Lower Naugatuck Valley, community action officials told U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro Monday.
DeLauro rode with a TEAM, Inc. Meals On Wheels driver to deliver lunches to three elderly Ansonia residents, but said the real purpose of her visit was to draw attention to the effects from the sequester on actual Meals recipients.
They included Ed Krystopik, a World War II veteran, who said he counts on his Meals On Wheels deliveries every day.
TEAM Vice President Diane Stroman said the food deliveries are also important for providing a daily wellness check on the elderly recipients, who have medical conditions or disabilities and are unable to prepare their own meals.
She added that the program also helps the recipients to live independently at home instead of moving into a nursing home, which would be much more expensive for taxpayers.
Click here to read more about Meals On Wheels, which DeLauro said is facing a $12,000 cut because of the sequester, which would result in 15 seniors being cut from the program.
After the home visits to deliver meals, DeLauro went to the Rev. Alberta Callahan House in Seymour to meet with seniors who go there daily for congregate lunchtime meals that, like the Meals On Wheels meals, are prepared under a nutritionist’s supervision.
“It’s a nice meal to sustain you for the day,” said Laura Bengivengo.
Other seniors noted they appreciate the affordability of the hot lunches, which cost $3, although they cost more than that to make and serve.
That program, DeLauro said, faces a $3,648 cut, which would result in 18 seniors unable to get meals.
“It’s something that the seniors can’t do without,” said Ansonia Mayor James Della Volpe, who joined DeLauro’s entourage at their last stop in Ansonia and continued to the Callahan House in Seymour.
The sequester was originally thought of as a way to ensure that members of Congress would negotiate an agreement on federal debt reduction, rather than let the onerous across-the-board cuts take effect.
But Democrats and Republicans in Washington could never agree on the details of an agreement before the cuts began going into effect in March.
DeLauro, a liberal Democrat, cited tax benefits for oil companies as something Congress should eliminate to raise extra revenues, rather than cutting nutrition programs for seniors.
The oil companies ​“eat very well,” she said.
