Nevada County’s Meals on Wheels program, that’s been around for 40 years, is not getting any help from the Trump Administration’s budget proposal. Gold Country Community Services Director, Sandy Jacobson, says they’re facing a second straight year of not getting any Community Development Block Grant money in the federal budget. She says before the first funding cut, in August of last year during the Obama Administration, they were serving about 175 to 180 seniors a day, with no waiting list. She says there is now a waiting list of 20 seniors. But she says they should still be able to maintain the current level of services, for now…

click to listen to Sandy Jacobson

Jacobson says despite Nevada County’s large senior population, funding priority has been shifted to larger, urban areas…

click to listen to Sandy Jacobson

Jacobson says it’s cheaper to serve one client per year with Meals on Wheels than a one-day hospital stay. Meanwhile, she says another possible Trump budget casualty for seniors is the Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program, which includes supplying recipients with firewood. She says Congress may make a decision on the cut proposals in April.