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Central Minnesota nonprofit seeks pilot funds to reshape senior meal delivery
Summary
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Saint Cloud told the House Human Services committee that a $420,000-per-year pilot (House File 1973) would fund new delivery models for senior nutrition across 14 counties to stretch scarce Title III and other senior nutrition dollars and preserve meal access in rural communities.
Representative Perryman presented House File 1973 and said the bill would appropriate $420,000 each year in the next biennium to pilot new methods for senior nutrition across 14 Central Minnesota counties, with the intent to test models to extend limited public dollars and return findings to the legislature.
Aaron Fisk, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Saint Cloud, described the agency as the largest social-services nonprofit in Central Minnesota and outlined three main delivery methods for senior meals the organization uses: congregate dining, meals-on-wheels home delivery, and frozen meal distribution developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. "In 2024 we served over 350,000 meals to over 5,200 individuals throughout our service area," Fisk said.
Stacy Lund, director of community services at Catholic Charities, testified about funding constraints and regulatory limits tied to Title III federal funds administered through the Minnesota Board on Aging and local area agency on aging. She said providers need flexibility to develop partnerships such as with schools and local businesses to serve increasingly rural communities: "We really are looking for some flexibility with these particular dollars, to come up with some partnerships with local schools, local business partnerships, and some different avenues of ways to feed folks and to get meals to seniors who really are interested in remaining in their homes, remaining independent, but need senior nutrition."
Fisk also told the committee that Catholic Charities experienced a $526,000 reduction in senior dining funding in 2025 and that closures and service reductions followed, cutting roughly 117,000 meals. He said a pilot in a large, demographically mixed service area could identify models to apply statewide.
Committee members asked whether providers could use previously appropriated state funds channeled through the Minnesota Board on Aging or Central Minnesota Council on Aging; witnesses said the existing contracts and funding streams are prescriptive about service models and coverage areas and argued that the pilot would create needed flexibility. After questions, the committee laid House File 1973 over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
Ending: House File 1973 was laid over; the committee asked staff and witnesses to follow up with details about existing funding streams and how a pilot would interact with Title III and state appropriations.
