LAKE COUNTY — Lake County officials are urging state leaders to push the federal government to extend funding for a program that could help deliver three meals a day to qualifying seniors during the coronavirus lockdown.
On April 24, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the launch of “Restaurants Deliver: Home Meals for Seniors,” saying its two primary goals would be to deliver “three nutritious meals a day” to seniors and adults at high-risk from COVID-19, and to stimulate local restaurants and commercial kitchens, which would be paid to prepare and deliver the meals.
“This partnership will allow for the ability for restaurants to start rehiring people or keep people currently employed,” Newsom said in his announcement.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has said it will cover three-quarters of the cost of the program, with California covering 19 percent, and local governments footing the remaining 6 percent.
Funding for the program through FEMA, however, is set to run out on May 10—and Lake County needs more time to establish and operate the proposed meal service.
Getting the program up and running within two weeks is an impossible task, said Lake County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson during a board of supervisors meeting on Tuesday.
“For what it would take to stand up this program, it just couldn’t possibly be done and implemented that fast,” she said.
“We need an extension,” District 4 Supervisor Tina Scott said.
The board unanimously approved a letter to be sent to Senator Mike McGuire and Assembly Member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Lake County’s representatives at the state legislature, asking that they get FEMA to continue its funding for 90 more days.
“In order to determine if it (the program) is feasible here in Lake County, we are requesting you advocate on our behalf by urging Governor Newsom request that FEMA issue a three-month extension for this program,” the letter states.
Lake County has a disproportionately large senior population: 22.7 percent of its residents are at least 65 years old, while just 14.3 percent of all Californians fall into the same age group, according to census data.
A handful of senior centers around Lake County already provide daily meals to many seniors, including the homebound via Meals on Wheels programs, but the “Restaurants Deliver” program is intended not to replace those longstanding services. Federal and state funding for the senior centers—administered through local Area Agencies on Aging—is tied to the number of meal recipients each center serves.
Transferring even a portion of the client base from the senior centers to the newly announced, restaurant-based program could have long-term negative economic effects for the centers, Huchingson notes in a memo to the board.
“A reduction in meals served by local senior centers could result in a reduction of the funding they receive through our Area Agency on Aging, having a potential long-term negative financial impact for the centers,” she writes.
In order to qualify for the program, a senior must be at least 65 years old and have a household income of no more than 600 percent above the federal poverty line. Already receiving meals from a senior center or Meals on Wheels service is a disqualifying factor for the new program. In addition, seniors must show that they are unable to cook and obtain food for themselves.
District 2 Supervisor Bruno Sabatier expressed confidence that FEMA will agree to continue its funding—a necessary prerequisite for the program to get off the ground.
“It seems positive that we’re going to get the extension,” Sabatier said.
However, based on communications between FEMA and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, as reported by the Associated Press, an extension has not been guaranteed.
