WEBVTT - How Meals on Wheels Works 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:04.600 Welcome to Stuff you should know from house stuff Works 0:00:04.600 --> 0:00:14.240 dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:17.160 There's Charles w Chuck Bryant's just the two of us. 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:20.079 Today we had guest producer Tyler and here for a second. 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.720 He pressed your cord and left and it's just us. 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:27.960 It's cool. One of us needs to get our index 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:32.640 finger working so we can do that. Well. Remember we 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:34.479 used to say we were going to replace Jerry with 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:37.520 one of those dipping birds. Yeah, is that what they're called? 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:39.800 Dipping birds? Don't know, I just I just remember my 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:42.920 grandmother had one where the bird would dip its beak 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:46.080 in the water. All we have to do is arrange 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:49.879 it so we can press the space bar. Uh. Well, 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:52.159 we should be better than this, Chuck, because this is 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:58.520 a very nice, wonderful humane episode. Humane and human even 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:03.000 and human and it ties. Yeah, this is one of 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:06.319 our what we like to do, a little awareness shows 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:10.280 every now and then and meals on wheels, which, by 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:13.560 the way, for the past two days in my head, 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:19.800 I've been going meals on wheels. What is that? You remember? 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:21.959 It may have been a local thing when I was 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:24.080 a kid. That was a thing it was called World 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:26.319 of Wheels. It was like, I don't know if it 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:28.640 was a car show or like one of those monster 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:32.320 truck things, but it was. That's what they used to do, 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:36.319 is World of Wheels. I got you. That's funny you 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:38.440 say that, because I've had my own thing in my head. 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:42.399 There was a thrill Kill Cult song that was in 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:46.319 the movie Cool World called Sex on Wheels. So I've 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:52.000 been going meals on wheels, meals on whales, that's been 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:54.360 That's weird though, that we each have just kind of 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:56.720 had some weird loop in our heads. Maybe that helps 0:01:56.800 --> 0:02:00.840 us research maybe and maybe meals on eels And we'll 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:03.080 get to the funding part of it at the end. 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:06.960 But maybe they would have better chances getting federal funding 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:09.000 if they had a cool theme song. Yeah, like by 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:15.840 the thrill Kill culture. That would surprise everybody, I think. So. 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:18.600 So we are talking meals on wheels today just just 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:23.520 to do our do diligence upfront. We just want to 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:25.640 tell everybody in case you don't know what that is, 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:28.960 but I'm sure most people do. Meals on wheels is 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:34.520 a meal delivery program here in the States and Canada, Australia. 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:38.799 I think it's all over the place where if you 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:43.400 are usually if you're a senior citizen, senior adult not 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:46.839 quite sure what they go by these days, and you 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:51.880 are homebound basically where you're able to care for yourself 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:54.080 in your home, but you're getting up there in years 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:58.280 and you haven't um gone into an assistant care facility, 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:00.640 but you're still you don't have a out of contact, 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.239 you might not have family around. What Meals on Wheels 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:06.320 does is they bring you a meal once a day, 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:10.000 five days a week. She'll lunch and uh say, hey, 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:12.120 how are you doing. Feeling good? Good? Okay, well we'll 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:16.239 see tomorrow. Enjoy your meal and um. Just that little 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:21.280 simple act of doing that, just apparently in research bears 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:24.440 this out completely changes the life and and extends the 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:28.679 life expectancy of people in that situation. Yeah, and it's 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:30.720 not just uh, I mean, we'll get to some of 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:33.280 the other things they do. But the main three pronged 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:37.320 reason for the home visit is the meal, like you said, 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:40.000 the visit, and then the final thing is the safety 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:45.560 check component, which is geez, uh, mr muldoon, you have 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:49.080 a wire hanging out of your wall. Uh, and it's sparking, 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:51.600 So let me see if I can get some help 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:53.920 with you, get some help for you on that, sir, 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:57.320 right exactly, that that could that could turn bad on 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:02.120 you exactly. So there's this there's this whole idea that 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:05.520 just by showing up at somebody's house with a meal, um, 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:09.040 you can you can just really vastly help improve their lives. 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:11.520 And when I think about like meals on wheels or 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:14.600 when I researched this stuff, it's like there's no like, 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:17.960 if you if you've lost faith in humanity, just look 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:21.960 into meals on wheels like it. It it cancels out 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:25.520 so much bad in the world, you know, and it 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:28.560 takes like this this population that here in the West, 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:32.640 Like it's very easy to become disconnected from your family 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:37.560 because you're you're offspring. Your kids as some people call them, 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:39.920 they grow up, they get their own jobs, they move 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:45.320 around where highly mobile culture Western civilization is um and 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:48.680 you can find yourself basically alone. Like if you're friends 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:51.279 with your neighbor and your neighbor dies or moves away, 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:53.920 you don't know the new younger neighbors, maybe they don't 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:57.080 care about you. Um, you can find yourself isolated and 0:04:57.080 --> 0:04:59.839 being socially isolated is a huge problem. So the idea 0:04:59.880 --> 0:05:02.640 that there's people out there who are strangers to you, 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:04.479 who will come to your house and bring you a 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.279 meal to make sure you're taken care of. That's there's 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:11.040 humanity right there. In a nutshell. Yeah, we had Um 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:14.840 she's moved away now, but are are older? Um and jeez, 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:17.240 I had no idea how old she was. She was 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:20.000 one of those ladies, Miss Jesse, our neighbor, who could 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:24.560 have been seventy or a hundred and six. I have 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:27.760 no idea. Is she the one with the goats? No? No, no, 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:30.400 we fed the goats again this morning. By the way, 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:33.600 Um No. Miss Jesse and Mr Otis lived next door. 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:37.640 Mr Otis had daily dialysis passed away um, which was 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:40.479 very sad because he was just great. Um. But Miss 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:42.360 Jesse was really nice. It took us a little while 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:47.360 to earn her trust. But um, she had her daughter Connie. 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:49.880 He would come by and get her what she needs 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:51.919 and bring your groceries. But we would always offer, you know, 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.080 we're going to store. Miss Jesse need anything, and she 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:56.000 would never take us up on it. But I think 0:05:56.120 --> 0:06:01.480 just us talking to her on a daily basis because 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:03.040 she was one of these that would like you know, 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:05.960 she she would open the blinds every time she heard 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:07.960 a noise in the neighborhood. She was very on it, 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:10.119 which was great for when we went out town because 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:12.640 Miss Jesse was the best like watchdog you could asked for. 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:15.080 Did she give you a list of like teenagers that 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:18.920 she spotted while you were gone whenever you return home. No, 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:21.200 she just said that that ne'er do well, that guy 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:24.520 is up to no good. Anyway, She's a very sweet lady, 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:26.680 and I think eventually we earned her trust, and I 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.040 really got the sense that just us having a conversation 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:32.200 with her from for five minutes getting out of the 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:35.800 car meant a lot to her. Um, that's apparently what 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:39.719 the research shows that that kind of thing has a 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:42.960 pronounced impact on the life of somebody who has become 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:47.839 socially isolated. But she moved away. Yeah, she's like nuts 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:51.040 to those two. Yeah, someone bought her house. Uh, but 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:53.600 she's you know, she's doing great. The good end of 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:56.360 that story. She did not pass away. She moved away, right, gotcha? 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:57.960 So where did she move? Did she moved to an 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:00.360 assistant care facility? And she moved into an other house. 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:02.000 Does she moved in with her daughter. I think she 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:04.480 may have moved in with her daughter. But it was funny, 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.240 like she meant a lot to us, but it was 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.240 sort of like so long, suckers, we didn't get it. 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:11.760 Wasn't that like a cheerful goodbye. All of a sudden, 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:14.720 we're like you're moving. She's like, yep, sold my house 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:18.000 and she was out of there right, So shuts the 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:22.200 U haul gets in, flips you the bird on the way. Yeah. 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:25.280 So well then this one's for miss Jesse. Yeah there 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.360 you go. Um okay, so well, let's talk a little 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:31.679 bit of history. It's about meals on wheels because despite 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:35.760 how utterly human it is, um, it was started by robots. 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:39.360 It was robots who are trying to win us over 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:43.520 before they take over. Very strange, um the the it 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:47.200 hasn't been around for as long as you think, although 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:50.680 I think that it came about right around the time 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:54.080 when the need first arose because I was doing some 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:57.680 research and it seems like with industrialization and the rise 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:01.040 of like factory work, that is are a lot of 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:07.640 the the schism between our traditional society that was usually 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:10.640 a grarian based and this new modern society we live 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:14.600 in really began, and around that time is probably when 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:18.080 you would have started to have found some isolated seniors, 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:21.000 is like a growing population. Yeah, that makes sense because 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:24.360 I found it interesting that, uh, and we'll dig into 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:26.640 the history here, but I found it interesting that it 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:30.120 seemed to pop up within about a fifteen year period 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:34.120 in many countries around the world, and not because they 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:35.880 had heard of it. You know, It's not like they 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:40.040 read on the internet in nineteen fifty four that hey, 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:43.400 someone in England is doing this. So it I think 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:45.920 that has a lot of merit to it, that the 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:47.640 need was there kind of all at the same time, 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:50.080 yeah and all. Yeah, and it also kind of underscores 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:53.680 just how basically human and idea this is. You know, Alright, 0:08:53.679 --> 0:09:00.280 so World War two raging England, being bombed, neighborhood and 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:05.200 regions being devastated. Uh, it became clear that people, you know, 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:09.360 like literally just their home or kitchen were destroyed, so 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:12.439 they couldn't do simple things like cook the meals they're 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:16.960 used to providing for their family. The Woman's Volunteer Service 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:20.600 for Civil Defense came around and they said, you know what, 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:24.040 we're gonna start delivering some some meals, some home cooked 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:27.400 meals to people that whose houses have been devastated, who 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.400 can't cook for themselves right now. They delivered them at 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:34.120 first in baby carriages, which is where the that's the wheels, 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:36.960 that's where it came from. Yeah, that that's what everybody 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:40.440 around town called it. Um. They called it meals on wheels, 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:43.000 pretty neat. It was just just the It was not 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:45.160 capitalized or anything like that. It was just kind of 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:48.720 like the the slang term what the cool kids called. 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:53.800 About ten years later or so in Philly, uh in Pennsylvania, 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:56.880 woman named Margaret Toy who became the first director of 0:09:56.920 --> 0:10:00.240 Meals on Wheels in the United States, she organized something 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:03.760 called the Platter Angels and just by coincidence, there were 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:08.000 some British students in Philly doing some social work at 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:11.680 a community center where Mrs Toy volunteered, and they said, hey, 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:13.360 this is a lot like what we've got going on 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:16.640 in England with the Meals on wheels. Ditch that platter 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:21.680 angles angles angles there thinking of Joseph Angles. Ditch the 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:25.160 Platter Angels name and call it meals on wheels. And 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:27.599 I don't think they said ditch that name, but the 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:32.640 does would be some pushy exchange theory. Uh you know 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:36.920 those pushy British exchange students. They're the worst state. Surrounded 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:39.680 poor Mrs Toy and like poked her in the shoulder 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:42.120 and like blue cigarettes smoke in our face. Hey, platter 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:49.120 angel right out of her hand. So that's how it 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:51.240 became meals on Wheels in the United States. And then 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:53.360 over the next like twenty and thirty years in the 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:57.080 US they started popping up all over the place. They did. 0:10:57.200 --> 0:11:00.600 And here's what you're kind of referring to earlier. So 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:07.960 that was that same year in September in Um, South Australia, 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:11.040 which is where Adelaide is. Shout out to Adelaide where 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:15.439 the summerton man is from, right, Um, a woman named 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:20.160 Doris Taylor came up with the same exact thing, and 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:22.800 from what I understand, called it meals on wheels as well. 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:26.120 Is that correct? Yeah? She was something else man Um. 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:31.520 She was disabled. The best I can discern is she 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:33.520 had a fall when she was seven which gave her 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:36.640 a limp, and then another fall when she was eleven 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:41.520 that paralyzed her from the waist down permanently. Like that 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:44.280 was it. That was it. She was wheelchair bound from 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:47.680 that point on. Yep, from that point on, and despite 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:50.040 the fact that as an eleven year old in a 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:54.319 wheelchair for life, she had a big heart and and 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:56.839 realized that there was a need to provide for people 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.840 in her community, just like was was going on in 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:03.120 American Britain, and said, hey, what about bringing a meal 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:07.160 to people? And then in September, like you said, meals 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:10.520 on wheels of South Australia, Uh, which I had to 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:12.160 look up on a map. I figured it was in 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:15.760 the South. Yeah, and in Australia it is. But it's 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:18.520 a big chunk um, a big chunk of land at least, 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:23.360 I don't know how populated it is. Well, if Adelaide's there, 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:26.840 it's great. Well, yeah, of course it is. But that 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:29.080 has grown. She actually lived long enough to see that 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:33.200 grow into a huge organization. And um, I don't know, 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:36.400 they have these all over the world and all over 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:38.240 the country here in America. But we just wanted to 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:42.560 shout her out specifically for you know, being disabled herself 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:46.640 and and going on to do like just this amazing thing. 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:50.160 It's it's pretty remarkable. Yeah, And and so you think, like, okay, 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:52.600 big deal, she's a wheelchair abound and she can she 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:55.680 can use her arms, she can juggle that kind of stuff. Nope, 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:59.520 she had rheumatoid arthritis, crippling rheumatoid arthritis on top of 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:02.559 all of the us and so she was just basically 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:06.320 she had no use of any of her limbs and 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:09.760 she still was out there raising like she had. She 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:14.120 used her mind too to get other people to get 0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:17.679 off their duffs and help people less fortunate she was. 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:20.360 She was an amazing person. It's pretty great. Five thousand 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:23.960 clients in South Australia now ninety branches. Uh and this 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:26.719 is all because of Doris Taylor and then Chuck. So 0:13:26.840 --> 0:13:31.040 speaking of South Australia, you were you were onto something 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:35.080 huge chunk land, not very populated. Adelaide is the capital 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:37.880 with just under one and a half million people, and 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:42.160 that's the population of South Australia as a whole. Well, 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.720 there you have it. There's a lot of unused land there. 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:47.840 Should we take a break? Oh sure, all right, let's 0:13:47.840 --> 0:14:13.880 do it. Okay, So meals on wheels starts springing up 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:16.600 as like these community programs all over the world. Right, 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:22.080 just because there's a few spiritually aligned do gooders out 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:23.800 there who have this good idea, and it just spreads 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:26.040 and spreads and spreads. But the thing that they have 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:29.480 in common, aside from the basic we bring a meal 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:32.320 once a day to someone who can't get out of 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:36.359 their house, they also had in common that they were community, 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:40.440 grassroots organizations. That's how they that's how they operated, that's 0:14:40.440 --> 0:14:43.160 how they were funded. That was it, and that was 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:48.360 the case until I believe nineteen with the Older Americans Act, 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:52.000 when the FEDS finally said, all right, okay, a good 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:54.400 idea is a good idea, we'll cough up some money 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.160 for your Meals on wheels programs. And it's been that 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:02.280 way ever since. Customarily, the Older Americans Act provides about 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:05.880 thirty percent of funding for the Meals on Wheels programs 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:09.120 in America, I should say, and then the rest. It's 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:13.040 like it's an early public part private partnership, where the 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:15.880 rest is meant to come from state and local governments, 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:20.960 private donations, foundations, grants, wherever they can get money from. 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:23.880 But the the the Meals on Wheels program is meant, 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:26.240 ever since nineteen sixty five in the US, to have 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:30.160 been able to rely on over a third of its 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:33.640 annual budget coming from the US government to provide that 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:36.080 foundation so they can get the rest. Yeah, so that, 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:38.880 like you said, is specifically because the O A A 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:43.440 and delivered through the Office of Health and Human Services 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:48.640 and got a shout out corporate donations because I feel 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:51.560 like they, you know, people like to bag on big corporations, 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:54.400 but um, part of their funding does come from corporations 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:57.640 chipping in. And then you talked about grants. There are 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:03.560 three specific uh block grant programs. Uh the Community Development 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:07.360 Block grant, the Social Services Block grant, and Community Services 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:11.280 Block Grant. And just put a pin in that because 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:15.800 that will come up again later. So um, again, the 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:18.520 most of the funding comes from things other than the 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:23.280 federal government, right, And and that there's another way that 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:25.560 these this program is funded and this is kind of 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.840 surprising to me, but it's from the people who are 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:33.040 the recipients of this aid as well. It is and 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:37.160 this is actually another Doris Taylor innovation, at least in Australia. 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:40.760 Before it was well you're this is charity, so here 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:45.120 just take this, she was like, yes, we're gonna incorporate volunteers, 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:47.200 and the volunteers don't need to be paid obviously, but 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:49.520 we still need to pay for the food. We still 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:52.160 need to pay workers to prepare the meals, and so 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:56.320 obviously some of that could be donated, but yeah, sure 0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:58.640 not all of it. You just can't rely on that 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:01.520 always to be donated. You could kind of always rely 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:04.320 that there's gonna be somebody there who will fill in 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:07.000 for somebody who didn't show up that day in meal delivery, right, 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:10.720 or you can go do that yourself. But the more 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:13.400 skilled stuff, you need to be able to pay somebody 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:15.560 so that they will show up and do this stuff. Right. 0:17:15.800 --> 0:17:19.280 So the idea of having the people who can afford 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:22.960 it pay for the meal, UM, that's that is kind 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:26.479 of innovative and it helps keep the program going. The 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:28.360 thing is is if you can't pay for the meal 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:31.000 you get that you get it for free. Well, and 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:33.879 then there's a that's a continuum. There's a sliding scale 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:37.080 between I can I can I can afford a little 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:40.800 bit for this meal, um, here's here's some and then 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:45.040 I think the people who are able to physically able to, 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:49.400 but are financially unable to afford a meal UM are 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:51.600 asked to volunteer to be a part of the Meals 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:55.120 on Wheels program. Themselves. Yeah, I'm a big You can 0:17:55.119 --> 0:18:00.440 call me an old hippie if you want, but the 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:04.560 sliding scale is one of my favorite things. An old 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:10.720 hippies like the sliding scale, sure, man, like everything from 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:14.200 I mean when I was a young, broke mid twenties 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:17.720 something and I wanted to go to a shrink, they 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:19.840 you know, I found a shrink at a sliding scale. 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:23.000 Like there are people out there to be like, you know, what, 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:26.119 what can you what can you pay? Right? And it 0:18:26.240 --> 0:18:31.280 wasn't some government program, it was a private uh therapist. 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:33.679 And this is across the board. There are all sorts 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:37.480 of people who offer sliding scales, like you know, meals 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:40.840 of wheels. If you can pay a dollar, then that helps. 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:42.280 If you can't pay anything, we'll give it to you 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:44.439 if you can pay full price. I didn't see what 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:47.040 full price was for a meal on wheel. I saw 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:50.960 somewhere and this is a just a meals on wheels 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:54.480 um Like a volunteer who wrote something on Vox said 0:18:54.520 --> 0:18:57.639 that they they are usually about two dollars and five cents. 0:18:57.720 --> 0:19:02.440 That's full price, yeah, man, which is ridiculously low. Well yeah, 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:06.800 because I guess they're only paying for food costs. And 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:11.080 they're getting bulk you know, they're getting gallons of mayonnaise 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:17.919 at the warehouse. Yeah, you know, yeah, but you have 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:22.200 to order about ten overage for mayonnaise to to cover 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:24.920 shrinkage because everybody's always got their fingers in the man 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:27.159 is joke as they're walking in and out of the kitchen. 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:29.760 You know. That's what Pappy used to say, That's what 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:33.600 Mr Otis always said. He probably did so. Um, so 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:37.440 there is there is, there's money. There's financial contributions involved. 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:41.359 But for the most part um the being a part 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:44.400 of meals on Wheels as a recipient, it's based entirely 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:46.480 on need. And I think the first thing that they 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:50.840 look at is your medical need, right, yeah, so how 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:53.160 how able are you to get around your house? How 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:54.719 able are you? And this is a this is one 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:57.159 I hadn't thought of, But I'm like, Okay, well you 0:19:57.200 --> 0:19:58.719 can get up and get around your house, you can 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:02.119 cook for yourself. Can you also go to the grocery store? Huge? 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:05.800 Huge one. So you may be physically able to, um, 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:08.879 hang out in your house and you know, maybe play canasta, 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:12.240 do whatever. But but getting to like, let's say you 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:15.360 lost your driver's license or you don't have a car 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:18.879 any longer, or or it's just getting to the grocery 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:21.840 store and shopping and then getting back is just way 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:25.920 too much. Um, you would probably qualify to be a 0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:28.800 Meals on Wheels recipient, right yeah. I mean there's a 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:32.360 range of people like they also have uh like centers 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:34.520 where they feed a lot of people like in a 0:20:34.560 --> 0:20:37.760 cafeteria setting, and they encourage you if you can get out, 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:41.720 you can still get your your really nutritious. Because I 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:43.639 don't think we've said that yet, but that goes without 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:48.880 saying these meals are specifically catered to the needs of 0:20:48.960 --> 0:20:52.280 the elderly, right yeah. I think ever since nineteen two, 0:20:52.320 --> 0:20:54.879 there was like an amendment maybe to the Older Americans 0:20:54.880 --> 0:20:59.960 Act that said, maybe get those those um single cigarettes 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:02.919 out of that tray that you're bringing to the to 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:05.800 the older seniors. Let's actually make this like like a 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:09.760 nutritious meal. Yeah, so you can go to a place 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:12.720 and eat with a bunch of other people like you 0:21:12.760 --> 0:21:15.000 and have a good conversation if you can get out 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:18.760 of the house. But the real focus in the core 0:21:18.840 --> 0:21:22.120 of the program are those we call them shut ins 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:24.240 at our church. I don't know if that's a I 0:21:24.240 --> 0:21:26.720 think homebound is what they normally call them. Yeah, I 0:21:26.720 --> 0:21:30.879 think that's probably an antiquated Southern Baptist term, right, But 0:21:30.920 --> 0:21:32.920 we would deliver meals to shut ins through our church. 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:35.879 It wasn't like Meals on Wheels. And there are plenty 0:21:35.880 --> 0:21:37.760 of other programs that do this, but Meals on Wheels 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:39.920 is definitely the biggest and broad ut. Yeah, I get 0:21:39.920 --> 0:21:42.680 the impression to that Meals on Wheels is in particularly 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:45.679 concerned by competition. No, I don't think they're like, okay, 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:50.200 as fine as long as everybody's getting their their meals. So, um, 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:54.080 let's say you you are you qualify medically as somebody 0:21:54.080 --> 0:21:57.679 who is a Meals on Wheels recipient. Um, next they 0:21:57.680 --> 0:21:59.679 would look at your finances, what can you for? What 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:01.480 can't afford? And they're not going to like go through 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:03.320 and dig dig through your check. They say, hey, give 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:06.080 me a wallet, right right, let me see what's in there. Yeah, 0:22:07.160 --> 0:22:09.040 you go to grab it from and they just put 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:11.919 their palm on your forehead and hold you back right. No, 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:14.679 they're not gonna do anything like that. They're going to 0:22:14.720 --> 0:22:16.720 just ask you like what can you afford or what 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:18.800 are you living on a month? How much extra income 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:21.359 maybe do you have. That's probably going to be the 0:22:21.359 --> 0:22:23.920 extent of it. I get the impression that it's largely 0:22:23.960 --> 0:22:26.679 an honor system kind of thing, right, and then if 0:22:26.720 --> 0:22:28.840 you if if you're like I just can't afford it, 0:22:28.880 --> 0:22:33.280 they'll say okay, great. Um. Depending on where you live, 0:22:33.400 --> 0:22:37.920 you will either be put into the rotation or you'll 0:22:37.920 --> 0:22:41.320 be putting sadly on a waiting list. And if you're 0:22:41.359 --> 0:22:43.639 put on a waiting list, there's you. You might be 0:22:43.720 --> 0:22:46.520 waiting a little while before they can include you. The 0:22:46.560 --> 0:22:49.280