As part of our 60th anniversary celebration, Meals On Wheels, a program of UR Medicine Home Care, will be delivering meals driven by a volunteer in retro 1950’s clothing in a vehicle from the same time period, today on Monday, October 15th. UR Medicine Home Care, formerly Visiting Nurse Service, established the Meals On Wheels program, the third oldest in the United States, in 1958 and has since served over 11 million meals throughout Monroe County.
The idea of meals being delivered to people’s homes can trace its roots back to World War Two. The city of Rochester, New York, was third to begin a home-delivered meal program on March 15th, 1958 in a kitchen located at East Avenue. It was originally a pilot project initiated by the New York State Department of Health and administered by the Visiting Nurse Service. The Visiting Nurse Service charged participants fees ranging from 50 cents to $1.85 per meal for dues and the Bureau of Chronic Diseases and Geriatrics of the New York Department of Health paid for the remaining costs. Four cars were used to deliver the meals and by the end of the year, 47 people had enrolled in the program.
About Meals On Wheels, a program of UR Medicine Home Care
Visiting Nurse Service established the local Meals On Wheels program, the third oldest in the United States, in 1958 and has since served millions of meals. The program ensures that over 1,400 individuals throughout the year receive safety checks during the day and delivers approximately 215,000 meals per year. For many seniors and homebound residents who cannot get to a store or stand in a kitchen for long periods of time, Meals On Wheels is essential for their health and well-being. All meals are overseen by a registered dietician and contain one third of a senior’s daily recommended dietary allowances. For more information about donating, call (585) 787-8748. To volunteer, call 585-787-TEAM (8326) or visit urmhomecare.org.
About UR Medicine Home Care
UR Medicine Home Care encompasses UR Medicine’s not-for-profit, Medicare-certified home health care agencies, licensed home care agencies, and hospice programs. Licensed by the State of New York, its affiliates serve patients in Monroe, Livingston, Ontario, Wayne, Wyoming, Seneca and Yates counties, and when taken together is one of the largest full-service home health systems in the nation. Services include nursing, physical, occupational and speech therapies, assistance with daily activities (home health aide services), Meals On Wheels, Hospice (in homes and facilities), Nurse-Family Partnership, Assistive Technology, Health Home care management, and Telehealth. For more information, call 585-787-2233 or visit urmhomecare.org
