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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jeanette Estima, Director of Policy and Advocacy at City Meals on Wheels
3:09:36
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111 sec
Jeanette Estima from City Meals on Wheels testified about the critical need for expanded and modernized food programs for homebound older New Yorkers. She highlighted the insufficiency of current meal provisions and the importance of bringing food directly to seniors who cannot access traditional food assistance programs.
- City Meals piloted new programs including a breakfast box and a mobile grocery program with phone ordering system
- Emphasized the importance of CFC funding in supporting innovative food access initiatives
- Urged the council to pass Intro 770 to ensure seven-day meal delivery and increase reimbursement rates for meals
Jeanette Estima
3:09:36
Thank you deputy speaker Ayala for the opportunity to testify today.
3:09:40
My name is Janet Estima.
3:09:41
I'm the director of policy and advocacy at City Meals on Wheels.
3:09:45
City Meals works to ensure that homebound older New Yorkers have the food they need to safely age in place, something we all want to be able to do.
3:09:53
Thank you.
3:09:55
Last year our research showed that for sixty percent of older adults participating in the city's home delivered meals program, the one meal a day they receive is simply not enough.
3:10:06
Our meal recipients are not able to regularly get to a grocery store or prepare their own meals which means that SNAP food pantries and other food programs are not always accessible to them.
3:10:17
It's critical we look at ways to expand and modernize existing food programs and create new programs that bring more food directly to older adults in new ways.
3:10:28
City Meals piloted new programs this year, a breakfast box to provide a second meal and a mobile grocery program that allows an older adult to order a bag of food with a few options to choose from through a phone ordering system.
3:10:41
This innovative pilot is being done in partnership with WSCA and funding like CFC is critical in supporting organizations like ours working together to expand access to nutritious food to the city's most vulnerable residents.
3:10:57
So thank you for including a hundred million in CFC in your budget response and we hope to see that included in the budget.
3:11:04
We also urge the council to pass intro seven seventy with $20,600,000 to fund in funding to ensure that the home delivered meals program provides meals seven days a week instead of just five days a week and to increase reimbursement rates for congregate and home delivered meals to combat years of inflationary cost increases.
3:11:25
Thanks again for your partnership.