HOUSTON (April 27, 2020) – Thanks to generous community support from numerous individuals, companies, foundations, congregations and government agencies, Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston (Interfaith Ministries) continues to provide meals and more to over 4,300 homebound seniors in Greater Houston.

Interfaith Ministries operates the largest Meals on Wheels program, in the state of Texas. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the program was full and there was a waiting list of hundreds of seniors. As a result of increases in recent fundraising, all those seniors have been moved off the waiting list and can now receive meal delivery services.

In addition, Interfaith Ministries and the YMCA of Greater Houston (YMCA) are partnering in a new program to launch emergency Meals on Wheels services in late April to provide 1,000 new senior clients with weekly meal delivery for six weeks specifically due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The YMCA will be contacting their senior members to identify where there are unmet needs for meal delivery.  These individuals are seniors who do not regularly receive Meals on Wheels. They will benefit from the service during this time of social isolation. Each senior, through this special partnership, will receive one week’s worth of frozen meals, every week for six weeks. Each senior will also receive a daily call to assess how they are doing.

In this collaboration, the YMCA will manage the assessment, enrollment, meal delivery and daily calls for the 1,000 new Meals on Wheels seniors. Interfaith Ministries will provide the meals, systems, training and management of the project.

This collaborative program was made possible in part due to funding from Janice McNair.

“It is very important to us to reach as many seniors in need as possible,” said Martin B. Cominsky, Interfaith Ministries President and CEO. “The generosity of the community and collaborations with other community serving organizations, including the YMCA of Greater Houston, is helping us feed more seniors during this time of crisis.”

“Houston seniors need the most help as many are homebound and do not have access to food,” said Steve Ives, CEO, YMCA of Greater Houston. “In order to reach as many seniors as possible, strong partnerships are critical during this time and we are proud to partner with Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston to implement an emergency Meals on Wheels program to feed seniors.”