Moveable Feast, Inc.

The goals of our Home Delivered Meals Program and Medical Nutrition Therapy service is to provide the proper nutrition to clients, give them the knowledge they need to cope with their nutritional needs, and mitigate symptoms and side-effects to decrease hospital visits and improve quality of life. As a result of our services, we also aim to decrease the amount of financial strain and anxiety around providing and preparing healthy meals that a client experiences.

Since our meals are created by our Registered Dietitians and Chefs, the meals are designed to work with the medications and treatments a client is receiving in order to optimize medication adherence. The meals provide the nutrition clients need to build their strength and are colorful to be more appealing for those who may be experiencing nausea or a lack of appetite. The meals we offer include: regular (heart-healthy), renal, soft, diabetic, no red meat, no dairy, and no seafood. These are recognized diets that are appropriate for the conditions our clients are living with, and our staff ensure that each client receives the diet that is right for them.

Moveable Feast is unique as it is the only nonprofit in its service region that provides medically tailored meals to people living with critical illnesses at no cost to the client. Serving the rural Eastern Shore region also gives our organization a distinction, as there are very few services that reach clients at their homes in rural areas.

Each of our programs utilizes collaboration with our referral agencies across the state to connect our organization with those who are eligible for our services. Major partnerships include Peninsular Regional Medical Center, Coastal Hospice, and the Health Departments of each county we serve. Our partnership with healthcare institutions such as The Johns Hopkins Hospital, University of Maryland Medical System, Greater Baltimore Medical Center, MedStar Health and more have led to extended services to more Marylanders and a study done by Johns Hopkins showing the impact of nutrition on those we serve.

Our organization is also a member of the national Food is Medicine Coalition, which includes organizations focused on how healthy food strengthens and heals people. Through our work with the Coalition, we share research and best practices, as well as stay up to date on public policy changes that will affect our clients

Moveable Feast fosters strong long-term partnerships with our referral agencies across the state to connect our organization with those who are eligible for our services. Major partnerships include Johns Hopkins, Peninsular Regional Medical Center, Coastal Hospice, and the Health Departments of each county we serve. We are constantly working to strengthen and create new partnerships, and this year, we have focused on developing new connections with referral sources on the Eastern Shore and with referral sources within different departments of the County Health Departments. These connections will mean more eligible clients will get access to our Home Delivered Meals service for years to come.

Our philosophy is that Food Is Medicine, and we have seen the strong evidence that our services help hospitals and insurers save money. We currently partner with healthcare institutions and insurers to provide services to their patients and participants to help them stay healthy and out of the hospital. These partnerships are a critical part of our future sustainability and growth. We also participate in local and national partnerships. We are in the final stages of completing a study with Johns Hopkins University to show how our services improve quality of life, and results will be published. Through our work with the Food Is Medicine Coalition, we share research and best practices, as well as stay up to date on public policy changes that will affect our clients.

In 2020, we had 1,011 individual volunteers donate 8,897 hours of their time to help us, which equates to $278,381! Our dedicated volunteers are truly the backbone of Moveable Feast, and we couldn't do our amazing work without them – which is why we plan to expand Volunteer Services as our capacity grows. Moveable Feast also has two main fundraising events each year, which in total raise over $900,000 per year while connecting a larger audience into our mission.

In 2020 Moveable Feast served 453,815 meals to 2,111 clients in need throughout the State of Maryland. We plan to continue to grow our reach and the numbers of clients we are able to serve.