Corning Meals on Wheels, Inc.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
We work to alleviate senior hunger and isolation. Meals on Wheels America states the problem on their webpage (mealsonwheelsamerica.org) where they write: "Even the most independent among us, if fortunate to live long enough, may experience a decline in mobility or health that can strip away our independence and diminish the quality of our lives. Great advances in medicine have extended our average life expectancy to a record high of 78.7 years. Living longer means more years spent in the struggles that accompany old age. Add to that the increase in geographic mobility of our families and the result is millions of seniors left behind, hungry and alone...Without support from programs like Meals on Wheels, millions of seniors are forced to prematurely trade their homes for nursing facilities. We can provide a senior Meals on Wheels for an entire year for roughly the same cost as spending one day in the hospital or ten days in a nursing home."
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Home Delivered Meals
We prepare and deliver meals (hot and cold) to homebound & frail people aged 60+ residing in the roughly 240 squares of the Corning Area School District.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Meals on Wheels Association of America 1992
External reviews
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our current comprehensive strategic plan describes three principal objectives for mission effectiveness. The first is "Clients of Corning Meals on Wheels will exhibit nutritional health". The second is "Clients of Corning Meals on Wheels exhibit characteristics of independence". The third is "Clients of Corning Meals on Wheels are better off physically and emotionally because of their participation in the program".
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
OBJECTIVE: Clients of Corning Meals on Wheels will exhibit nutritional health.
• Strategy: Improve nutritional characteristics of meals while preserving appeal.
o Tactic 1: Partner with Pro Action (a provider serving other areas in Steuben County) on meal preparation.
a) Identify meals with highest appeal to clients of both organizations.
b) Identify best kitchen practices used by both organizations.
c) Standardize kitchen practices and menus to:
• Ensure improved nutritional value and appeal of meals.
• Potentially allow for client menu choice.
• Accommodate medically necessary diets.
OBJECTIVE 2: Clients of Corning Meals on Wheels exhibit characteristics of independence.
• Strategy: Connect CMoW clients with other services that support their independence.
o Tactic 1: Build client trust in CMoW.
a) Establish driver /client familiarity and trust through consistent match / routine.
• Engage more volunteer groups, who tend to adhere to more regular schedules than individual volunteers.
o Tactic 2: Provide general information to clients and their families on services that support independence. (n.b. Older Americans Act (OAA) funding may exist for this activity.)
a) Coordinate with Steuben County Office for the Aging (OFA) to ensure that CMoW clients receive appropriate information.
OBJECTIVE 3: Clients of Corning Meals on Wheels are better off physically and emotionally because of their participation in the program.
• Strategy: Promote deeper engagement between driver and client.
o Tactic 1: Create the opportunity for longer visits for clients who desire social interaction or personal assistance.
a) Add volunteers.
b) Design optimal routes.
c) Identify best mechanism to keep food at the proper temperature.
o Tactic 2: Attract volunteers with an interest in providing deeper engagement.
a) Promote the intangible benefits of providing a daily routine / check-in, friendly smile, occasional helping hand.
• Strategy: Promote client medication compliance.
o Tactic 1: Ensure the predictability of the meal delivery routine.
a) Promise on-time delivery barring factors out of the program's control.
o Tactic 2: Display the day and date on meal packaging.
o Tactic 3 (if able to access OAA funding for it): distribute support items such as pillboxes, calendars and brochures.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Since our first delivery to six homebound seniors back in 1966, we have depended on volunteers and community support to power the mission. We have a staff of only 3.5 FTE. We have roughly 200 active volunteers at any one time, thanks to a remarkably caring community. For the last thirty years, we have rented space, including a commercial grade kitchen, from a church in the center of the City of Corning. From that church kitchen, our paid cook and volunteers prepare 200-225 meals each weekday. In 2018, we prepared & delivered 59,302 meals. We are on track to prepare 61,000 meals in 2019. We estimate our physical plant, cook and volunteers have the capacity to prepare upwards of 65,000 meals under our current conditions. 100% of our meals are delivered by volunteers. We currently have 16 delivery routes covering our roughly 240 square mile service area. as the need for service grows, we anticipate being challenged to increase the pool of delivery volunteers to open new routes.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Eighty-seven percent of our enrolled seniors improved their health and/or nutritional status through utilization of home-delivered meals. Fully 99 percent of our senior report they are able to remain safely in their own homes, avoiding long-term care placement, as a result of the nutrition and daily volunteer contact received through home-delivered meals.
A typical program participant is age 65 or older (90+% of our clients), living alone, frail, and rarely leaves the house. In the past year, we have had multiple clients aged 99 and one gentle-lady who remains in her own home, thanks in part to United Way donations, at age 100. Our younger participants tend have very serious chronic conditions that, absent help from us and others, would most certainly require institutionalization. That's people like Gerry, who at age 60, is a wheelchair bound amputee who is now also a dialysis patient. The volunteer who delivered to Gerry on his third day of service reported that Gerry, with a tear in his eye, said Corning Meals on Wheels is the best thing to ever happen to him.
The typical person we serve is often challenged to accomplish routine tasks besides cooking, such as changing a light bulb, changing the battery in a smoke detector, maybe even bringing in the mail or taking out the trash. Our volunteers, in their desire to combat senior hunger and isolation, have been known to help with these seemingly small chores our participants are too frail to do for themselves.
The senior population in our service area is significant and growing. According to data presented by the school district, the number of seniors in our catchment is projected to grow from 7,390 in 2010 to 9,120 in 2020.
Year / Seniors 60 and over / Total population / Seniors as a percentage of population
2010 / 7,390 / 33,470 / 22%
2015 / 8,420 / 33,540 / 25%
2020 / 9,120 / 33,080 / 28%
Need for our service has increased at an incredibly faster pace than the demographic growth. In 2006, we served 31,527 meals. In 2016, we served 53,422. That's a 69% increase in the need from 2006 thru 2016. We have been able to keep pace with the need, improve our menu (low sodium for all) without compromising flavor, and score high in improving health and enabling seniors to remain in their homes.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Corning Meals on Wheels, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 10/01/2019
Rt. Rev. Ian Adkins
Community Volunteer
Term: 2015 - 2020
Esq Ronald Klokus
Law Offices of Patrick Roth
Term: 2019 - 2021
Thomas Beall
VP, Corning Inc.
Katherine Funk
Community Volunteer
Ronald Klokus
Esq, Law Offices of Patrick Roth
W. Robert Ohl
Corning Inc.
Robert Smith
Station Mgr, Equinox Broadcasting
Joanne Herman
Ret, College Administrator
Clara Bright
Ret, IT Specialist