MOWMP is expanding its scope – one home improvement project at a time
Adding to its usual slate of delivered meals and community programming, the nonprofit is now exploring the realm of small-scale home repair through a new venture soft-launched earlier this year. Dubbed “Home Heart Heroes,” the initiative seeks to improve clients’ mobility and safety by addressing home improvement needs that have gone long-neglected.
“Our main focus is food and socialization, but this fits right in with keeping people healthy and safe,” said Jacob Shafer, senior director of Advancement for Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula. “It’s a totally new program, and something that we’re really excited to get out there.”
Designed to empower and encourage independence, Home Heart Heroes allows clients – which includes homebound seniors, disabled adults and veterans over the age of 60 – to “age-in-place,” or the idea that someone can live and grow older in their residence of choice for as long as possible.
With Home Heart Heroes, Meals on Wheels hopes to make clientele homes more accessible and conducive to the aging-in-place process.
“It helps people move around more easily and safely stay where they are, as opposed to going into an assisted living facility,” said Shafer.
Over the past few weeks, Meals on Wheels has started to roll out Home Heart Heroes as a sort of pilot program to gauge clients’ interest. So far, feedback has been heartening, to say the least.
“It has really been tremendous,” Shafer said, adding that “there’s a lot of need out there for this kind of thing.”
The first sign of that need came by way of survey. Twice a year, Meals on Wheels reaches out to clients and asks for feedback on the services it provides, from food quality to volunteer interactions, Shafer explained. But in its most recent survey, Meals on Wheels added something different: questions about home upgrades, and if clients had any they haven’t quite been able to address on their own. Survey results confirmed suspicions.
“We had a big response to that,” Shafer said. “It was our first indicator that (this program) was really needed and could be successful.”
To date, Meals on Wheels has completed about 10 home improvements projects around the Peninsula. Repairs have included anything from adding grab bars to a client’s home to constructing wheelchair ramps. And that’s just the beginning. Looking ahead, Shafer said as many as 30-40 more repairs are in the works.
“We want to make this a core program,” Shafer said. “It’s been such a hot start and impactful for the clients. ..I mean, that’s the best part. Oftentimes, they live in unfavorable conditions for years at a time. But when they are able to get up a ramp as opposed to carrying up the stairs, it’s a really life-changing thing for them. It’s been tremendous, and we just hope to continue.”
More information about Home Heart Heroes can be found at the Meals on Wheels of Monterey Peninsula website.
