Agency Spotlight: Olympic Community Action Program
Whatever your age, eating well is vital to your health and wellbeing. Did you know that 12% of the more than 675,000 people we serve are seniors? This means that 81,000 of our older neighbors turned to their local food programs for help last year. The Senior Nutrition program at Olympic Community Action Program (OlyCAP) understands the unique need for nutritious meals for seniors, and makes it the centerpiece of their services. Kathy Crowley, Program Manager at OlyCAP says, “We are proud of our staff and their willingness to continually work to meet the needs of their individual communities. Meal programs face difficult challenges daily, and our staff and organization diligently manage our resources to ensure the sustainability of these vital services.”
Over 3,000 meals are served to people over age 60 through OlyCAP Senior Nutrition Program each month. Crowley says, “With much more public acknowledgement of hunger problems that exist within our communities, people now understand the benefits of collaborative efforts to address these issues. We are blessed to be in communities where the willingness to work together and pool resources is becoming standard practice.”
Food is one tool OlyCAP uses to help enable seniors in the community to preserve their dignity and stay independent for as long as possible. The Senior Nutrition Program operates under the philosophy that nutrition makes for stronger individuals who are more resistant to illness and less likely to be prematurely institutionalized; hence increasing quality of life for the 1,750 adults served annually. With this in mind, the program also provides nutrition education for participating seniors to teach them the benefits of a healthy diet. In the coming year, OlyCAP plans to incorporate more local produce into the programs, with a goal to make 5% of all fruit and vegetable purchases from local farms.
The OlyCAP Senior Nutrition Program utilizes six sites that serve older individuals in the Forks, Port Angeles, Sequim, Port Townsend, Tri-Area (Chimacum) and Brinnon communities. They also operate a home-delivery meal program for homebound seniors (also known as Meals on Wheels). This program is dedicated to overcoming logistical obstacles to ensure their neighbors are receiving the food that they need to stay healthy.