Dear
Friends and Partners,
Currently we have local volunteers, Love INC staff and volunteers, and WCCA staff working together to make 650 care and mental wellness calls each week. Even some of our “almost” seniors J and friends that remain vulnerable are leveraging the security of their homes and technology to make a difference by providing calling support and administrative services.
The average meals delivered each day in Wright County this last week was 508 (this number does not include those delivered by Catholic Charities Meals-on-Wheels program which delivers here every two weeks). Here are just a few of our county’s statistics with regard to nutrition applications received by WCCA:
Write a
check to: Delano Loretto United Way
In the memo line, write: “COVID-19 Food.”
Mail to: P.O. Box 578
Delano, MN 55328
Or go to the Delano Loretto United Way Website http://www.delanolorettouw.org/ and donate via credit card or PayPal
This
is the May 17th update of Wright County’s Care and Nutrition Support for
seniors (60+). We are starting our 9th week of response to
COVID-19. Wright County Community Action (WCCA) has a support line for seniors;
please encourage seniors to call (320) 963-6500 Ext. 274. For Wright County
seniors who access this support line, we have a bank of staff and volunteers
trained to answer calls and return calls to help address many of the challenges
our seniors are facing during this time. As a community we want to help
with our most vulnerable neighbors’ challenges, including isolation, navigation
to grocery access through education, grocery delivery, senior mobile food shelf
needs, frozen meal support, prescription access, and other needs as they
present.
It is truly
humbling and hard to thank everyone making such a tremendous difference for our
seniors during the COVID-19 Isolation. From the staffers of our US
Senators to the non-profit workers of Catholic Charities, United Way, and
Love INC; to the local and regional business owners like Waverly Café, Buffalo
Crossings, and Land’s End Pasty Company; to the Trailblazer bus drivers and
local grocery workers at Cub and Coborn’s; to local food shelves offering
freezer space; to corporate friends like Cargill and J&B Group chipping in
their resources; to WCCA, Delano Senior Center, and Public Health staff
reaching out to our most vulnerable; to the many Lions organizations (most
recently the Delano Lions) donating funds; and so many concerned and courageous
volunteers stepping up and asking how they can help -- thank you so much. These
folks – along with the frontline warriors working in our hospitals, nursing and
senior facilities, and emergency services- are this pandemic’s champions.
COVID-19 is
demanding us all to step up and innovate in this war against an invisible
enemy. I see evidence of creative ideas from the Second Harvest Foodbank
all the way down to our local Waverly Café and Catering Restaurant owner.
We are all adapting rapidly to win this fight for our seniors’ safety and
nutrition. Because of the overwhelming demand for senior nutrition
support that has stressed our systems, Waverly Café within the next week
will begin producing frozen meals for seniors. I know our seniors will
appreciate the wonderful meals produced by this local favorite, but I also want
everyone to know the commitment this organization and its employee are making
to support this cause. Their PPP loan is being leveraged in the short run
to feed many of our isolated seniors. What a great testament to community
giving.
Additional
freezer capacity for Frozen Meal Distribution to support this program has
already been added at the Waverly Food Shelf (highlighted last week). The
Annandale Food Shelf and the Alleluia
Lutheran Church in St. Michael are also partnering in this effort.
Annandale
Food Shelf
Currently we have local volunteers, Love INC staff and volunteers, and WCCA staff working together to make 650 care and mental wellness calls each week. Even some of our “almost” seniors J and friends that remain vulnerable are leveraging the security of their homes and technology to make a difference by providing calling support and administrative services.
The average meals delivered each day in Wright County this last week was 508 (this number does not include those delivered by Catholic Charities Meals-on-Wheels program which delivers here every two weeks). Here are just a few of our county’s statistics with regard to nutrition applications received by WCCA:
The American Community Survey (ACS) shows that of the
24,127 adults over 60 living in Wright County, 1,571 (or 6.5%) are living below
the poverty level. Because COVID-19 fears and vulnerable health
conditions do not discriminate by impacting only those in poverty, we are doing
all we can to reach out to all of our most vulnerable seniors, whatever their
economic situation, by facilitating where possible to prepare them to weather
this storm. We are currently in contact with 1,198 seniors that have sought out
nutrition support through completing a nutrition support application.
The number of
active COVID-19 cases in Wright County over the last two weeks have grown from
21 to 84, despite the safety provided by the Governor’s “stay at home”
orders. Opening up our economy is important, but readiness is
paramount. Community partnerships are forming rapidly to address
this circumstance. It remains important to provide creative
solutions for both the mental health and nutrition of our seniors as they
isolate to protect themselves.
As an example
of a special partnership, next week, all the way from Dinkytown, we have a
treat for some of our seniors. In the best of Cornish tradition, Land’s End Pasty Company, near the University of Minnesota
is sending 80 pasties to Wright County for our seniors. A two-person,
family-run pasty shop, will help feed and provide a treat to dozens of Wright
County seniors. “People love pasties, especially if they grew up eating
them. They remind people of a simpler time,” says Peter Jacobson, co-owner of
Land’s End with his Uncle John Earl. “A pasty is a thick stew in a pie crust,”
says Earl. “Traditionally, It’s beef, rutabaga, potatoes and onions. You can’t
get any simpler than that. Just like the miners in Cornwall, England ate in the
1300’s.”
Another
partnership recently formed is with the Delano Loretto Area United Way (serving specifically the
Highway 12 corridor). Through their COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Fund we are
receiving designated funds to help expand support for senior meal. As you know,
we are doing everything we can to keep our costs down and work with
partnerships. Not everyone can afford their meals. If you’d like to help
our seniors expressly on Highway 12, please donate to the COVID-19 Fund at the Delano
Loretto Area United Way:
In the memo line, write: “COVID-19 Food.”
Mail to: P.O. Box 578
Delano, MN 55328
Or go to the Delano Loretto United Way Website http://www.delanolorettouw.org/ and donate via credit card or PayPal
àWe need more partnerships
like these to
continue to leverage local support throughout the County for our seniors
isolated in their homes. Please forward this email to other potential allies willing to invest time and money in our most
vulnerable neighbors.
Please let me know
directly if you have a contact or suggestion on how to raise resources,
supplies, or funds for this effort to protect our seniors during what seems
a prolonged crisis that exponentially impacts our
elders.
àService Providers - we could use your help
on a brief COVID–19 Needs Survey – just for Service
Providers. This survey is being leveraged to inform our COVID-19
Community Assessment. We have Catch-a-fire Volunteers (https://www.catchafire.org/) helping to deliver this
assessment.
We‘re
asking service providers who have had any contact with
clients or low-income neighbors in the last month to participate
in a simple survey. We are hoping to hear from “service providers”,
which includes WCCA staff and other non-profit staff, Wright County employees
and Board, Trailblazer Transit Staff, Health Care Providers, Emergency Service
Workers, Food Shelves, Local Volunteers, Community and Faith-based Partners,
and so on. Please forward this email to any frontline individuals you
know that are impacting the COVID-19 response.
The
entire community of Wright County is in this together!
Jay
Weatherford
Information for Wright County senior
support services:
or
or
call:
- (320) 963-6500 Ext 274 – Aging Program Manager - Eric Nagel
- (320) 963-6500 Ext 241 – Dispatch
- 1-800-333-2433 – Senior LinkAge Line
- Delivered
Frozen Meal Program(s) – WCCA at (320) 963-6500 Ext 274 or Catholic
Charities program located in Maple Lake: (320)
963-5771, Annandale: (320)
274-3891 and
Buffalo: (763) 682-6036
To
volunteer:
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