The Friendship Center Receives TDA Grant

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas -- As baby boomers age, a growing number of Montgomery County residents find themselves confined to their homes through illness or disability. Requests for Meals-On-Wheels have skyrocketed, and The Friendship Center president, Nancy Harrington, has worried how the agency will afford to provide services to increased requests of almost 40 percent over the past year.

Her prayers were answered January 5th when she received word that the Texas Department of Agriculture was awarding funding of $122,219 to The Friendship Center’s Meals-On-Wheels program through TDA’s Home-Delivered Meal grant program.

“This news really came at a crucial time,” said Harrington. “We added over 100 people to our MOW participant list this past year, and with food prices going up, we knew we were going to need divine intervention to meet this growing need here in our community.”

Funding for the MOW program comes from a number of sources, but the primary grant programs have been United Way, the Houston-Galveston Area Council Area Agency on Aging, and Montgomery County, including funding from the Community Development Block Grant program. However, funding allocations from those programs haven’t been able to expand at the rate that the home-bound population has grown, she said.

“Success with grant programs like this one require a collaborative effort,” noted Harrington. “We were fortunate to have friends in the community watching for grants like this and making sure I was aware of the funding opportunity. I had letters of support from our legislators, and we received the blessing of Commissioner’s Court via a court resolution acknowledging our program and the funding and oversight that they provide. All of it combined to spell success in obtaining funding to help those seniors who truly need our support.”

Harrington pointed out that the MOW program not only provides nutrition for medically fragile senior adults, it also provides a warm heart and a caring smile from the MOW volunteer who comes to the senior’s door.

“I was amazed to learn that our program is one of the last in our region that is almost totally volunteer operated,” she said. “Due to the lack of available volunteer help, so many of the other MOW programs require staff to deliver a majority of the meals to the seniors.” In Montgomery County almost 200 MOW volunteers combine to serve over 400 senior adults with noonday meals either five or seven days each week.

The Home-Delivered Meal Grant Program is only in its second year at the Department of Agriculture, and Harrington is hopeful that during this current legislative session, our senators and representatives will ensure that this grant funding will continue to be available in the future.

In addition to the MOW program, the agency offers a transportation program; daily activities and a hot noonday meal in one of six centers throughout Montgomery County; a food pantry; case management services, and special projects such as assistance for seniors suffering home damage from Hurricane Ike, or help in building wheelchair ramps. For more information about The Friendship Center’s Meals-On-Wheels program, or other services provided by the agency, call 936-756-5828 or visit the agency’s web site at the link below.