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Though she stopped short of saying cuts were imminent, Del Norte Senior Center Executive Director Charlaine Mazzei said the nutrition program needs a more reliable funding source if it is to continue.

In the last six years, the Senior Nutrition Program has grown from serving 42,503 meals to 781 individuals in 2018-19 to supplying 873 individuals with 67,706 meals in 2023-24, according to Mazzei. Yet pandemic supplemental funding has run out, the Community Development Block Grant is unreliable, and costs for food, fuel and staffing have increased.

As a result, senior center leaders are looking to form partnerships with larger community donors, Mazzei said. The senior center has also posted a banner on its website urging residents to reach out to elected officials at the state and federal level to keep the program going.

“I don’t want to panic people,” Mazzei told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Wednesday. “But I want to make sure that folks understand that we do have a problem. If we can’t get some of those partnerships in place and get some additional funding, then we are going to potentially have to cut back on services.”

The Senior Nutrition Program offers one nutritionally-balanced meal per weekday to individuals 60 years and older. Meals are served in a group setting at the senior center on Northcrest Drive and are delivered to those who are homebound and unable to prepare their own meals.

For several years, the Senior Nutrition Program was one of two public service providers that received a CDBG allocation from the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors. Those federal dollars are administered through the state Department of Housing and Community Development. Cities and counties can use them for infrastructure, technical assistance and public services, said Toni Self, Del Norte’s administrative services manager.

Traditionally, in addition to supporting the Senior Nutrition Program, the Board has also allocated CDBG dollars to CASA of Del Norte.

In 2021, the last time Del Norte County received a CDBG allocation, the Senior Nutrition Program was allocated about $232,000 for a grant period of up to 36 months, Self said.

To be eligible for further CDBG dollars, counties must have spent 50 percent of the previous grant, Self said. Communities must also wait until the state releases a new Notice of Funding Availability.

Del Norte County held an informational meeting for public service providers on Thursday in anticipation of a new NOFA, though it hasn’t yet come. Self said she anticipated a new notice to be released toward the end of this month or the beginning of August.

Once it’s released, the notice will identify a percentage of public funding available to public service providers, Self said.

According to Mazzei, the Senior Nutrition Program spent the last of its CDBG dollars in January and “there hasn't been anything to backfill it.” The county received CDBG dollars in 2021, so it wasn’t able to get 50 percent expended by 2022, which meant it wasn’t eligible for further CDBG funding. In 2023, the state decided not to solicit new applications, Mazzei said.

“We’re halfway through 2024 and they’re just now issuing the application for the 2024 period,” she said. “All of that together has meant that there isn’t that money available. And given the way they delay the decision-making and delay the contract, even if we’re awarded during this cycle, we probably aren’t going to see that [funding] until next fiscal year.”

Meanwhile, the number of people needing meals through the program has increased. Mazzei said those numbers rose dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. With in-person dining not available due to social distancing, the senior center offered meals to-go or would deliver meals to “whoever wanted us to deliver.”

The number of meals served increased during the pandemic since those who would drop by for in-person dining rose from two to three days per week to getting a meal every day, she said.

Now that the pandemic is considered to be over, the Senior Nutrition Program only delivers to those who are unable to shop for groceries or are unable to prepare their own meals, Mazzei said.

“We have an aging population and the people who need meals every day need them every day,” she said. “We’re just seeing the need increase and it’s not coming back down even though the pandemic is, for all intents and purposes, done. People are still needing the service.”

The home delivery service isn’t just about providing seniors with a daily meal either, Mazzei said.

“We’re supposed to put eyes on the person we’re serving,” she said. “That is a wellness check service.”

With the CDBG being less reliable, the Del Norte Senior Center needs to diversify its funding sources. Mazzei said she has reached out to the Humboldt Area Foundation and will be looking to other community foundations to apply for grants.

They’re also looking at ways to potentially cut back, though that’s a last resort, Mazzei said.

“Maybe [we’re] not being able to deliver five days a week like we do now, but cut back to four and provide frozen meals,” she said, adding that it would be similar to Del Norte Unified School District’s Seamless Summer Food Program, which had offered lunch and next-day breakfast to local youth. “I’d hate to cut back on delivery service because that’s the one that people need the most. But it’s also the most expensive — it just costs so much to package and run the trucks and pay the drivers and that kind of stuff. We don’t want to say that’s imminent, but if we don’t get support that’s how we’re going…”

Those increased costs include the price per gallon of gas rising from $3.15 in January 2018 to $4.77 as of June 2024. This has made running delivery trucks more expensive, Mazzei said, and has contributed to a rise in prices from the senior center’s food and supply vendors.

Minimum wage increasing from $11 an hour in January 2018 to $16 an hour in 2024 has also made things difficult, Mazzei said.

“We have had to increase our minimum wage to $20 an hour to compete with the new minimum wage for fast food service workers,” she said. “Increases in minimum wage impact all staff costs since additional compensation is needed for positions of increased responsibility.”

There are ways Del Norters can help. In addition to monetary contributions — there’s a donate button on the Senior Center website — there are volunteer opportunities, Mazzei said. In the past, those have included volunteer drivers with small meal service routes, she said.

“We do want to let the community know that we’ve been fortunate in being able to provide this service without having to tap into resources from the community,” she said. “But now we’re in a position where we need to ask for that help. Any help is greatly appreciated.”

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