Produce deliveries set for low-income seniors

Hundreds of low-income seniors at three senior living facilities in Henderson are set to receive fresh produce regularly thanks to HopeLink’s new partnership with Three Square food bank.

The program was set to go live March 24, delivering an anticipated 6,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables to Horizon Senior Apartments, 990 Equestrian Drive; Vintage at Seven Hills, 845 Seven Hills Drive; and College Villas, 511 College Drive. The deliveries are planned once a month.

Three case managers from nonprofit HopeLink, 178 Westminster Way, are scheduled to be at the sites to help distribute the produce, along with personnel from Three Square, 4190 N. Pecos Road, which also is providing the items and bagging them in advance. The program could expand if HopeLink were able to hire another case manager, which would cost about $40,000 annually, HopeLink executive director Karen Kyger said.

“We’re going to do three senior sites, but Three Square can provide the food for as many sites as HopeLink can do, but we have only 11 people on our staff right now,” Kyger said.

Seniors who take part in the HopeLink’s food program live at 50 percent or below the median income for poverty, and many of them lack transportation, making delivery crucial, Kyger said.

The seniors also fall into the so-called SNAP gap, qualifying for about only $18 to $28 monthly in food stamps from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program due to receiving roughly $700 to $800 in Social Security payments per month, said Don Miller, senior services specialist/SeniorLink program manager for HopeLink.

It’s not uncommon for some seniors to have to choose between food and paying other bills, Miller said. As a quick solution, they sometimes borrow money from loan centers in order to feed themselves, resulting in insurmountable debt due to exorbitant interest rates, Miller said.

“I would say that I interact with 30 people a week at one (senior housing) site,” Miller said. “One-third of them have outstanding payday loans.”

HopeLink strives to meet the basic nutritional needs of seniors so they do not have to resort to such action, Miller said.

It has offered an on-site mobile grocery program for about the last two years at Horizon Senior Apartments, distributing nonperishable goods and produce. Kyger said that seniors have shown an overwhelming response as far as receiving fresh fruits and vegetables.

Low-income seniors typically do not purchase produce for themselves because they would rather spend their money on food that has a longer shelf life, Miller said. For the same reason, produce is rarely stocked at area food pantries, he said.

Visit link2hope.org.