Elderbridge warns funding cuts could force wait lists for Kossuth County senior meals

Sandy Jackson, chief operating officer of Elderbridge, told Kossuth County officials during a budget session that cuts in federal and state funding are forcing the agency to prepare wait lists and tiered services for home-delivered and congregate meals for older residents. “Our mission really is to support people aging in place and living at home as long as feasibly possible,” Jackson said.

Jackson said Elderbridge, based in Mason City and serving 29 counties across roughly 16,000 square miles, has seen funding decline: she said funds fell "from, 8,350,000.00 decrease down to 6.86" in the most recent fiscal year and that the agency is "looking at another decline this fiscal year down to 6.4 total budget." She told the county that the funding streams are primarily federal dollars that flow through the state. Jackson added that, in Kossuth County, Elderbridge provided roughly $10.88 in services for every $1 received from the county last year and described the organization as "great stewards of your monies."

Local senior-center staff identified in the meeting as Dan described the local operations supported by those funds, saying the center currently delivers "50 to 65 meals a day" and serves walk-in congregate meals Monday through Friday of about 20 people a day. Dan said roughly eight to 10 deliveries go to Whittemore and that monthly food-box distributions draw about 70 people. Using these figures, meeting participants estimated total monthly service contacts in the low thousands.

Jackson told officials that, because of the funding shortfall, Elderbridge is preparing to prioritize clients and operate wait lists and tiers of service: "Those individuals are gonna be prioritized on social, economic, and just risk of institutionalization," she said, and added that the state aging unit directed that such prioritization and wait lists must be in place by July 1. Jackson said Elderbridge will assist its 48 meal sites by providing rosters and helping sites apply intake information to prioritize the most in-need clients.

Dan pushed back on strict means-testing in a small-town context, saying it can be "intimidating" for residents to disclose assets and that local staff often know who needs help. "As a person who's lived here for quite a while ... I don't know of anybody that's abusing it," he said, urging the county to consider providing more support rather than scaling back services. Jackson acknowledged the difficulty and said Elderbridge is exploring options such as reduced meal frequency tiers and self-pay alternatives while keeping people fed in the meantime.

County members briefly reviewed per-capita funding figures during the meeting; participants referenced prior per-capita amounts (spoken figures included about $15.04 previously and a requested figure near $15.09) while staff checked budget binders.

A motion to adjourn, moved by Wacker and seconded by Oz, carried by voice vote and the meeting ended at 09:44.

Votes at a glance

Motion: Adjourn meeting. Mover: Wacker. Second: Oz. Outcome: Motion carried by voice vote; individual roll-call votes were not specified in the transcript.