Mecklenburg County Senior Citizens Nutrition Program - Bridging the Gap to Provide Nutrition Support to South Asian Seniors

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

While the needs of the elderly are ever present, COVID-19 has exacerbated problems faced by seniors and increased their need for nutritional support. With the closing of congregate meal sites and home-delivered meals program reaching its maximum capacity, Senior Citizens Nutrition Program of Mecklenburg County (SCNP) focused on innovating to reach more vulnerable seniors, especially those unreached through available services. SCNP collaborated with Universal Institute of Successful Aging of Carolinas (UISAC), a non-profit organization whose mission is to serve underserved populations including refugees, immigrants, and minorities. A gap for vegetarian meals in the South Asian Community was met by partnering with the Hindu Temple of Charlotte and UISAC to purchase and serve daily hot, Indian cuisine vegetarian meals to 125 seniors identified needing nutrition support during Pandemic. Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) funding was used to provide this service.As the department staff served, they learned that seniors in the Burmese, Bhutanese, Nepali and Vietnamese Montagnard groups are not all vegetarian and preferred more culturally specific meals. This gap was met by piloting two new services: 1. distribution of monthly grocery food boxes containing culturally appropriate staples to 100 seniors in December and 2.providing daily, hot, culturally specific non-vegetarian meals to 50 seniors. Two local vendors from the South Asian Community were contracted to provide these services which helped both the local economy and the local recipients of the programs.