Program for Older Adults
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Too many older adults in Cook County face challenges that can prevent them from adequately obtaining or preparing food, including limited budgets, declining mobility, medical issues and lethargy. A 2005 study commissioned by the Greater Chicago Food Depository and conducted by the University of Chicago Survey Lab showed that more than 70 percent of the low-income older adults surveyed in four selected neighborhoods were at "high nutritional risk."
Ingredients for Independence
The Food Depository began delivering boxes of nonperishable food to Chicago Housing Authority and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development residences in Chicago in 2007. Ingredients for Independence helps ease tight grocery budgets and increase the ability of older adults to cook and eat meals independently in their own homes. As of Spring 2010, nearly 4,000 boxes are delivered to more than 50 housing sites each month.
Healthy Helpings
With generous funding from the Sara Lee Foundation, the staff and students of Chicago's Community Kitchens, the Food Depository’s foodservice training program, began producing, packaging and freezing easy-to-use, complete meals for older adults in October 2009. The meals, called Healthy Helpings, are delivered twice monthly to approximately 500 residents living in five CHA and HUD residences. Residents receive seven different meals made specifically with the diet needs of older adults in mind. The meals include a protein, vegetable, starch and dessert, all of which are low sodium, low sugar, and high protein and include complex carbohydrates. The Food Depository is planning for program expansion, including member agencies that serve older adults, in Spring 2010.
Produce Delivery
The Food Depository's original program for older adults, officially launched in May 2006, delivers fresh produce to older adults at CHA complexes, HUD sites and other locations in Cook County. Approximately 3,000 older adults are served every month through the produce delivery program.
| The Sara Lee Foundation is a major sponsor of the Food Depository's Program for Older Adults. |  |
For more information about the Food Depository’s Older Adults programs, please contact the Programs Department at 773-843-2608.
