Is Our Local Meals on Wheels at Risk?

Meals on Wheels is a nationwide program that annually delivers nutritional meals to 2 million people. It is broadly popular and has enjoyed healthy bipartisan Congressional support for decades. Meals on Wheels’ primary funding is authorized under the 1965 Older Americans Act (OAA) which provides grant funding and guidance for many of the programs and services supporting the independence and well-being of elders.

In Tuolumne County, Meals on Wheels is under the umbrella of the Area 12 Agency on Aging through the nonprofit Sierra Senior Providers. Partially funded through OAA grants and Area 12, Meals on Wheels also receives monies through state grants, public and private foundations, partnerships with local businesses, individual donations, and from the recipients themselves (2).

Initiated in 1996, our county’s Meals on Wheels program currently serves approximately 400 individuals, providing them with 52,000 healthy meals each year. Twenty-five volunteer drivers deliver up to five meals per week to home-bound, disabled, and elderly residents. These meals are prepared under the guidance of a nutritionist at the Sonora Senior Center, where both volunteers and donations are welcome (3).

When asked recently about federal cuts to social programs under the current administration, Kelli Kleinhans, Meals on Wheels Administrator, indicated that she doesn’t anticipate reduced funding in the future. But research tells a different story.

The United States Congress, on September 30, 2024, failed to reauthorize the OAA (re-authorization is a typically routine process for reviewing and updating an earlier act to address modern-day concerns). This means that funding will not exceed current levels, which has implications for a number of programs supporting the elderly nationwide. All California Area on Aging Agencies are in danger of losing some funding as a result of this undercutting of the OAA and the general unwillingness by the current administration to fund social programs of any sort (4).

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired staff who manage federal grants for programs such as Meals on Wheels (5).

As we ended our telephone conversation, I think Administrator Kleinhans said it best when she stated, “You just never know.”

NOTES

1. “The Older Americans Act,” National Council on Aging (NCOA).
2. “Meals on Wheels,” Sierra Senior Providers.
3. “Conversation with Kelli Kleinhans, Administrator of Sierra Senior Providers,” May 13, 2025. She provided this writer with information on the history of and current data for this important service.
4. Howard Gleckman, “GOP Budget Squabble Puts the Older Americans Act at Risk,” Forbes Magazine, December 23, 2024.
5. Howard Gleckman, “A Second Trump Shock To Programs for Seniors and People with Disabilities,” Forbes Magazine,  April 2, 2025.