For many, This is their only opportunity for a hot meal. Home delivered meals are available Monday through Friday. In addition to providing a hot, nutritious meal, the home delivered meal carrier provides a daily contact to monitor safety and break the monotony of isolation that many homebound elderly in remote areas experience. Each nutrition center provides a place where individuals over 60 years age can eat a hot nutritious meal with friends and neighbors in a comfortable environment. Department staff work together with congregate participants to ensure that the nutrition centers are also a place where social stimulation, community involvement, and access to services can be found.
Participants volunteer to complete many of the tasks involved in running the centers.
The Department of Aging Services is responsible for the coordination of transportation services to the elderly and disabled population of Waushara County. These programs are funded by the county, with assistance in the form of an annual grant from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The Volunteer Transportation Program provides transportation for the elderly and disabled to medical appointments. The drivers are volunteers who use their private vehicles and are reimbursed mileage for this service. This represents a 21 percent decrease in the number of miles driven and a 5 percent decrease in the number of trips provided in 1997 versus 1996.