City Council
MEETING DATE: 4/11/2018
TITLE:
Title
Funding Request from the Mizell Center for the Congregate Meals Program at the Senior Center
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FROM:
Charlie McClendon, City Manager
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends the City Council consider a request from the Senior Center for funding in the amount of $5,669 to fund the Congregate Meals Program for the remainder of the current fiscal year.
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BACKGROUND:
The Cathedral City Senior Center provides a congregate meals program to Seniors in the area and the meals are provided from the Mizell Center in Palm Springs. Normally the cost is covered by grant funding received by Mizell and donations from the congregate meals participants. This year the grant funds have proven inadequate to cover the demand for meals resulting in a projected deficit of $5,669. Mizell is requesting that the Senior Center cover the deficit and the Center Board, in turn is asking for assistance from the City.
DISCUSSION:
Following is the content of a message received by the Director of the Cathedral City Senior Center from Ginny Foat, Director of the Mizell Center.
Hi Bob,
Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today. We are really distressed that we have to deal with this situation but we have been left with little choice. In an effort to not make drastic cuts to this program for the next 3 months, we have decided to reach out to all the cities that we serve and ask for their assistance. We have never had to do this before but this year there has been such a need while funding has been cut.
I think it is important that you have some background on our nutrition programs. As you are aware Mizell provides Meals on Wheels throughout the Coachella Valley. Additionally, we serve Congregate lunches in 9 senior centers and senior living facilities. Last year alone we served over 170,000 meals in the Coachella Valley. The program is funded by the County through the Federal Title 3c Older Americans Act program. We have received various levels of this funding for this program for the past 5 years and have managed to raise 20% of the grant from the private sector which is a condition of the contract. That private fundraising requirement varies between $250,000 to $300,000 yearly which Mizell does raise these funds for the entire Valley. Each year in the past we have also received OTO (One Time Only) funds from the County that in addition to the private funds have taken us through the year. Our motto has been that no senior would ever have to make a decision between eating and buying their medication no matter where they live in the Coachella Valley.
Which brings us to the current year. The County received a minimal amount of OTO funds and Mizell has currently served about 30,000 more meals than the number we have been reimbursed. Which means that the OTO funds do not come close as they had in past years to eliminating the deficit. That has forced us to look at all of the lunch sites and make some very critical decisions. We are reaching out to all of the cities with senior centers and to the 4th District for assistance. We are also not taking any new Meals On Wheels clients until July 1st. The following are numbers for the Cathedral Center for the fiscal year beginning July 1st through the end of February 2018:
MEALS SERVED AT SENIOR CENTER: 2045
COST OF MEALS SERVED: $16,073.70
YTD DONATIONS FROM RECIPIENTS: $1,904.00
DIFFERENCE; $14,169.70
PAID BY COUNTY GRANT: $10,390.25
DEFICIT TO MARCH 1: $3,779.45
ESTIMATED DEFICIT YEAR END $5,669.00
What that amounts to is roughly a $472 deficit each month. By the end of the fiscal year that would be roughly a $5,669.00 deficit for the program at the Cathedral Center alone. We are at a point that we have to make a quick decision to severely cut back on meals served for the next three months or approach the cities that we serve and ask for some assistance. In July we will be in the new year and funding of the contract will begin again and therefore a deficit will not be an issue.
In the 5 years that we have been managing this program we have never had this high a deficit. We always serve more meals than we are contracted and covered all of the deficit in private fundraising. But this year in addition to the cut back on County OTO funding there seems to be more seniors in need than ever before. We have already met with the Riverside County Office On Aging to let them know the situation and the cutbacks we are instituting. Any assistance that the City of Cathedral City can give will be earmarked for the Cathedral City nutrition program only.
Please share this with your Board and feel free to call me to discuss.
Thank you
Ginny
Ginny Foat
Executive Director
Mizell Senior Center
480 S. Sunrise Way
Palm Springs, CA 92262
FISCAL IMPACT:
This is an unbudgeted expense and would require a budget amendment or reductions elsewhere in the budget.
ATTACHMENTS:
None