Our bodies need nutritious food every day to function and stay healthy. It’s a simple, basic need that many of the elderly in our community struggle with throughout the week. But, we’re trying to make up for that at the Northside Youth and Senior Services Center.
It is part of our mission to provide daily nutritional meals to seniors. We achieve that goal through our two food and nutrition programs
Meals On Wheels
Our Meals on Wheels program delivers a hot meal and hope to our home-bound elderly neighbors in St. Louis every weekday. We package and deliver about 300 meals to seniors throughout St. Louis to provide them with nutritious lunches. We offer low sodium, diabetic and meals compatible with other special dietary needs.
The seniors that we serve through this program all deal with a disability that prevents them from leaving their homes each day.
- 97% have an annual income of less than $7,500
- 98% live alone
- 83% are over the age of 75
- 72% are women
When we bring them lunch, it offers our volunteers the opportunity to check in on them and provide a bit of companionship that our seniors look forward to each day.
Program Eligibility
Individuals must meet the following eligibility requirements before signing up for Meals on Wheels.
- 60 years of age or older
- Home-bound as a result of physical or mental disabilities
- Unable to prepare meals on their own and have no one available to prepare meals for them
- Complete a Home Delivered Meals Assessment with our staff
We can also offer meals to the following household members should they also be unable to prepare meals:
- The spouse of a home-bound senior
- A handicapped non-elderly person who is a member of a household with an elderly person
The Meals on Wheels program works to protect the wellbeing of an extremely vulnerable population in St. Louis by providing them with the most basic human need. Our efforts to serve these homebound seniors honor the generation that provided for our present and future. When our community needs us, we show up. Each and every day.
The Meals on Wheels program is financed in part through an allocation of HOME funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the City of St. Louis’ Community Development Administration.
Congregate Meal Program
For seniors that can easily get out of the house, we offer our congregate meals as a chance to gather, socialize and eat a healthy meal together each weekday.
The Congregate Meals Program was designed to maintain and improve the physical and social well-being of seniors through appropriate nutrition services in a group setting. Participants are served one noon time meal per day at our Center.
All prepared meals meet USDA dietary guidelines, including special diets. Each month, we provide a calendar of the daily menu. We encourage all seniors to attend on a regular basis!
Additional Activities
At our congregate meals, we also offer programs geared toward improving the health and wellbeing of seniors. These cover topics like nutrition education, health promotion and disease prevention. And two days a week, our exercise program for seniors takes place before the congregate meal.
Program Eligibility
Our congregate meals are available to any adult over the age of 60. To sign up, visit our Center or give us a call at (314) 531-1937.
Once you sign up, seniors can join us for meals and activities at the Center whenever they’d like. We just ask that you call at least 48 hours ahead of time to let us know you’ll be joining us. Transportation is available for those who have trouble getting around on their own.