Elderly Nutritions adds ‘Fresh Conversations,’ stays vital to Newton, county seniors

COLFAX — Kathleen Luther deals a deck of blue playing cards at the Colfax Senior Citizens Center on a Friday morning. Along with center staples, Andy Conn and Bette Davis, Luther strategizes their daily game of cribbage. It’s 11:15 a.m. and hot meals sit in containers in the kitchen waiting for the clock to strike 11 a.m. Center manager Inez Castillo brought the sweet corn, backed potato and baked chicken from the Jasper County Community Center in Newton.

“The social part of it is important. We get out of the house and play cards,” Davis said.

“That’s why we’re all here. Most of us could cook if we wanted to. I could. But we like to eat together,” Luther said.

Prairie City resident Ted Gabelmann travels to Colfax to participate in the Jasper County Elderly Nutrition Program. He said with a lack of cooking skills, the program allows him and other similar seniors to have a healthy meal.

The Elderly Nutrition program in Jasper County began in 1976. The congregate and home delivery service provides 300 meals daily to seniors 60 years of age and older. Congregate programs are held at the Colfax Senior Citizen Center, Monroe City Hall and the Jasper County Community Center in Newton.

At the congregate sites, Elderly Nutrition volunteers are now serving nearly 100 meals per day, Monday through Friday. Including home deliveries, assistant program director Anne Fincham said 300 meals per day are prepared for Jasper County Seniors.

Elderly Nutrition switched to disposable trays in 2015 to help the workload for volunteers, improve sanitation and reduce water costs. In a partnership with Hy-Vee and Skiff Medical Center Dietitian Jenny Thompson, Elderly Nutrition has also added “Fresh Conversations” the third Tuesday of every month at the Newton congregate location. Thompson brings in a fresh recipe with low sodium to share with all participants. All meals served at Elderly Nutrition are signed off by a licensed dietitian and satisfies 1/3 of a senior’s daily nutritional needs.

Fincham said seniors who come to the center usually have a group of friends that they enjoy sharing meals and others might have lost a spouse but know there is always a dinner group ready to chat. This is especially important for rural seniors in the program. At the Monroe site, Fincham said people will usually stay from 45 minutes to an hour after lunch just to chat.

“I think the most important factor of Elderly Nutrition is the socialization,” she said. “Most have lost their spouses, so it helps with their grief and loneliness.”

Some seniors, Fincham said, did not cook prior to their spouses’ passing or are unable to cook, so the program also provides that physical assistance.

But Elderly Nutrition also delivers meals to seniors who may be confined to their home due to medical, emotional or mental reasons. The program will deliver meals from county line to county line, and only requires a physician’s recommendation for the need.

“It’s a matter of keeping people in there homes longer where their a happiest,” Fincham said. “We are also an extra visitor and an extra set of eyes for seniors and their families. Checking in on loved ones once per day is part of or commitment. They’re happy to see a smiling face.”

Program volunteers and employees make a point contact family members of a senior who orders a delivered meal and is not at home. Fincham believes this brings an extra piece of mind to the children and caretakers of the elderly.

The program is funded through a federal grant offered to Aging Resources of Central Iowa — the organization which also set the nutrition guidelines for the service. It’s an entitlement initiative, so they do not charge for the meals. Elderly Nutrition also received taxpayer funding from Jasper County and gets a small amount of revenue through a few fundraisers and private donations.

The assistant director said the service is actually a cost savings for the taxpayers, as the daily delivered meals can reduce a senior’s grocery bill and allow them to stay in their homes longer. According to Fincham, a senior living in a retirement center or nursing home could be on the taxpayer funded Title 19 program which pays for a $4,000 to $6,000 per month service. Although Fincham feels Title 19 is an invaluable asset to seniors in need, Elderly Nutrition can be a part of keeping seniors independent longer.

According to Aging Resources, Iowa ranks fifth in the nation in the percentage of population over the age 65. Currently, the Elderly Nutrition crew serves 50 meals per day just at their Newton site.

For questions regarding Elderly Nutrition’s services contact Program Director Kelli Van Manen at (641) 792-7102.

Contact Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@jaspercountytribune.com