Demand Surges for Meals on Wheels, a Lifeline for Low-Income Older People

Years of flat federal funding and rising costs have led to a cap on clients and long waitlists

Molly Snow,

AARP

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Published March 25, 2026

Emily Pelecanos, 67, and Janet Brown, 86, pose together for a portrait

Janet Brown, 86, is a longtime client of Meals on Wheels. She's forged a friendship with local volunteer Emily Pelecanos, 67, who stopped by for a meal delivery on Feb. 12 to Brown's home in Maryland.

Maansi Srivastava for AARP

Key Takeaways

Rising demand and higher costs force some Meals on Wheels programs to pause enrollment or create waitlists.
Older adults rely on home‑delivered meals not only for nutrition but also for frequent check‑ins and critical social connection.
Without updates and increased funding for the Older Americans Act, providers warn that services could shrink as the aging population grows.

After 45 years spent nursing and teaching in the Washington, D.C., area, back and heart injuries pushed Gladys Harvey into early retirement at age 62. It was a frustrating transition because she knew leaving the workforce before full retirement age would mean a smaller income.

“It really hurt my feelings so bad when they told me that I couldn't be a nurse anymore,” Harvey, 81, says.

Her monthly income of $982 from Social Security helps cover the costs of essentials and her prescription. But affording nutritious meals and fresh produce to keep her blood sugar under control is a challenge.

“With my small little bit of money that I make, I have to stretch it this far,” she adds, holding out her arms in the living room of her home in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Meals on Wheels, a volunteer-driven program that delivers meals to 2.6 million older adults nationwide, ensures Harvey doesn’t have to skip meals and helps her access healthy food, especially on days when pain makes it difficult for her to stand for long periods in the kitchen.

“I never thought I would have to take Meals on Wheels, but I was so sick that I couldn’t cook for myself,” she says. “I needed that at that time, and I still do.”

Meals on Wheels plays an essential role in delivering food to older people at the community level, and its local providers rely on federal funding — primarily through the Older Americans Act (OAA) — to cover roughly a third of costs. In 2024, Meals on Wheels received about $729 million from the OAA.

However, years of flat funding for OAA programs, compounded by rising operational costs, are straining nutrition services the legislation supports. As a result, the network of local providers, including area agencies on aging, senior and community centers and other nonprofits, face mounting pressure to meet a growing need for nutritious meals and to combat food insecurity among low-income older adults.

“The unmet need is staggering,” says Josh Protas, chief advocacy and policy officer at Meals on Wheels America. “Our programs are reporting getting many more calls and inquiries for support because people are worried about losing their [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] access or [fearing] Medicaid is going to be cut off or become more expensive.”

Volunteers and staff prepare the day’s fresh meals

Volunteers prepare a day's worth of meals for local clients on Feb. 12, 2026.

Maansi Srivastava for AARP

Funding shortfalls spell uncertainty

On a chilly Thursday in February, the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Meals on Wheels kitchen was already bustling by mid-morning — timers dinging, volunteers chopping and pots simmering. A mouthwatering aroma wafted from the entrance.

In the back room, another crew meticulously packed coolers and hot bags, checking to make sure no meal was left behind or routed to the wrong address. Special stickers were affixed to bags going to residents with dietary restrictions. Soon, volunteer drivers would stop by to bring meals right to residents’ doorsteps. Volunteers prepare a daily hot and cold dish Monday through Friday.

The Takoma Park/Silver Spring program serves more than 200 clients and delivered more than 50,000 meals in 2025, up from roughly 30,000 in 2019. But in February, the program reached its funding limit and was forced to pause enrollment of new clients and start a waitlist.

Javonte McDonald, executive director of Meals on Wheels Takoma Park/Silver Spring, said demand for home-delivered meals has grown as more residents are hamstrung by rising costs. Some Meals on Wheels clients contribute what they can afford toward meals, but a growing number are unable to pay for the service, adding to the squeeze.

“I just want to make sure that we’re able to continue consistently providing meals to the people we serve,” McDonald says. “And I want our people that we serve to feel seen and supported.”

For 60 percent of local Meals on Wheels providers, federal funding makes up half or more of their total budget, and one in three programs now has a waitlist, sometimes numbering into the hundreds, Protas says.

Meals on Wheels of Takoma Park/Silver Spring delivered more than 50,000 meals in 2025, ensuring older adults have access to fresh, nutritious foods each week.

Maansi Srivastava for AARP

More than 80 percent of providers say a lack of sustainable funding is the main reason they put clients on hold. Clients also faced longer average wait times to get meal services in 2025 than they did in past years, according to a Meals on Wheels survey.

Federal funding hasn’t kept up.

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Between 2014 and 2024, funding for the OAA declined by 3 percent per person, while the number of people age 60 and older increased by 28 percent, according to an analysis by health policy research nonprofit KFF.

OAA dollars have also failed to keep pace with inflation, according to AARP’s Public Policy Institute, leaving critical services that support home-based care and caregivers less prepared to meet the needs of an aging nation.

AARP is pressing Congress to reauthorize, or update, the OAA and support funding for its programs, including Meals on Wheels.

“We urge prompt OAA reauthorization so that our loved ones can continue to turn to these services for their health and economic security as they age,” wrote Bill Sweeney, AARP’s senior vice president of government affairs, last year in a Sept. 12 letter to lawmakers.

Without that action by Congress, the problem is likely to get worse.

More than 10 percent of adults 50 and older faced food insecurity in 2023, the highest share in nearly a decade, according to AARP data. By 2030, 1 in 5 Americans will be age 65 or older, according to the AARP Public Policy Institute.

“That means there’s increased need for nutrition support, for social connection, for those care and supportive services,” Protas says.

Emily Pelecanos, 67, volunteers as a driver with Meals on Wheels

Emily Pelecanos, 67, has been volunteering with Meals on Wheels for nearly twenty years, getting to know the clients on her route around Takoma Park and ensuring they have access to nutritious food.

Maansi Srivastava for AARP

Filling plates and hearts

Meals on Wheels is a lifeline for those who rely on it not only for a hot meal but also for human connection. Volunteers do more than deliver food; they offer a familiar face, a quick wellness check and sometimes even a small kindness or helping hand, even though that’s not officially on the menu.

Takoma Park/Silver Spring volunteer Emily Pelecanos, 67, serves it all.

“Meals on Wheels!” she chirps while making a recent delivery, her arms full of neatly packed chicken-salad sandwiches, fruits and veggies. Most of her drop-offs begin the same way — a knock, a friendly greeting, a brief check‑in. They end much the same way — with a hug, a wave and a “See you soon!”

After years delivering to older adults around her neighborhood, Pelecanos learned who needs a hand bringing food inside and who insists on sending her off with a handmade gift.

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And she knows that when it’s time to deliver food to Janet Brown in Silver Spring, she should plan to stay a while.

“I see Emily three days a week, and I look forward to it. It’s nice to catch up,” says 86-year-old Brown, grinning at Pelecanos.

Brown has relied on Takoma Park/Silver Spring Meals on Wheels for nearly three years, along with SNAP benefits, to ensure she doesn’t miss meals. Knee pain makes grocery store trips nearly impossible. But the visits matter to her just as much as the meals.

“[The volunteers] are some of the kindest people I know,” Brown says. “They care about the people that they come and bring food to.”

Pelecanos says it’s not uncommon for volunteer drivers to “adopt” people on their route.

One of her clients lived alone, so Pelecanos began driving the woman to doctors’ appointments, making the occasional pit stop for more hearing‑aid batteries and even taking her to the hospital when she had a stroke.

“Her son being so far away, she didn’t really have anybody," Pelecanos says. “She was very special to me.”

Combating isolation, promoting independence

Isolation among older adults has risen over the years and can have a serious impact on health.

A recent AARP survey found that 42 percent of older men and 37 percent of older women report feeling lonely. Isolation can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and memory loss and can weaken immune responses.

More than three‑quarters of home‑delivered meal recipients say these visits make them feel safer, according to a 2023 Administration for Community Living survey.

Family caregivers say the Meals on Wheels program eases their load, too.

Ron Rice, a 58-year-old Montgomery County resident, says the program has allowed his family to delay moving his 78-year-old mother into assisted living, which would be costly.

A series of strokes has affected her ability to cook, but the reliable delivery of healthy meals allows her to maintain independence — something she has been adamant about, Rice says. And with the help of a volunteer, both he and his mother know there is one more person is looking out for her.

“The fact that we can delay [assisted living] with Meals on Wheels, that she can get her meals and still maintain her apartment living, is vital,” he adds.

AARP and others are urging lawmakers to update the OAA and ensure its programs are adequately funded.

Senate lawmakers introduced a bill last June that would extend OAA programs until 2030 and boost OAA funding across the board by 18 percent, but so far it has not moved forward.

“Funding is a bit more up in the air and less secure than it had been in prior years, when we had the five-year reauthorizations," says Meredith Freed, a senior policy manager for KFF.

While policymakers sort out the future of the OAA, Meals on Wheels volunteers continue to show up — often in ways that go beyond food.

Gladys Harvey, a client of Meals on Wheels

Gladys Harvey, 81, a client of Meals on Wheels of Takoma Park/Silver Spring, says the program has been a lifeline since she retired, helping her stay on top of her health.

Maansi Srivastava for AARP

Harvey said one day her driver asked what she was doing on her tablet. Harvey wanted to buy Bibles to donate to attendees of a church program but was coming up short finding affordable options in bulk.

The next time she came for a delivery, the volunteer arrived at Harvey's door carrying extra bags. Harvey recalls thinking, That’s a lot of food!

Inside two of the bags were 20 brand-new Bibles.

“I sat there, and tears came to my eyes,” Harvey says. “I thanked the Lord for how he helped me through Meals on Wheels."

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Molly Snow is a writer for AARP covering advocacy issues and state news. She also writes AARP's Today's Tips podcast. She previously worked at other news outlets, including Federal Times, McClatchy and Gannett.