The Director of the Marshall County Council on Aging gave a report to the commissioners about older adult services and one thing that jumped out was a steady increase in transportation.
Transportation has doubled since 2010. Jackie Wright said money from the Indiana Department of Transportation helped this year. INDOT was unable to provide the county with it’s usual allocation last year due to the federal sequester. Wright had to ask for $20,000 to cover that loss last year. Thankfully, she will not be asking for that money this year.
There are nine vehicles in the fleet at the council on aging and two new vehicles will be coming this year. Wright said that they have been fortunate in getting five new vehicles in the past couple of years.
The funding for the Meals on Wheels program has dropped and Wright explained that’s due to a number of federal issues.
“It’s something called Title III which involves the Older Americans Act dollars – those dollars have been shrinking and when those dollars shrink that directly affects the units. We do use United Way funds and Medicaid is also a funder. The Medicaid levels and things have changed so we look for that number to possibly go up. Primarily, that is it,” noted Wright.
There is currently a ten-person waiting list for the Meals on Wheels program. Wright added that the partnership with the Marshall County Jail is working out where the meals are made there and the volunteers pick them up and deliver them. She said it’s very cost effective as well.
