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David Fair: State demographers are warning that Michigan's aging population and stagnant labor market could have serious consequences unless we start to better address the issues. One-third of Michigan's population is over the age of 55. That's putting pressure on elder care and health care services. I'm David Fair, and this is 89.1 WEMU. In Washtenaw County, there are a number of organizations working independently and collaboratively to serve the growing senior population. Our guest today is among them. Courtney Vanderlaan is Director of Ann Arbor Meals on Wheels, which is also a part of the Big Hearts for Seniors collaborative. And thank you so much for stopping by today for a conversation! I appreciate it!
Courtney Vanderlaan: Thanks for having me, David!
David Fair: The population is most certainly aging. When it comes to aging services and elder care, are we properly prepared for what some call the coming "silver tsunami?"
Courtney Vanderlaan: I would say that there is a very solid infrastructure in place to support folks as they age. However, the quantity of folks that are aging right now is growing astronomically. It has been for several years. And so, our systems are doing our best to keep up with the rising need and demand. And also, there needs to be more support in place to support everybody.
David Fair: What changes in need have you seen over the past few years?
Courtney Vanderlaan: Part of it is just the sheer number of folks that are 60 and older that has grown. So, we've known that this has been coming for years and years. And so, for those of us who have been working with older adults, we have been preparing in a variety of ways to serve an increasing number of people. That being said, we all lived through the pandemic together and have seen a wide variety of things arise, both in those years at the height of the pandemic and in the years that have followed. And we now, I would say, are seeing just an increase in the severity of needs among those that we're serving. We're also seeing a lot of folks aging alone in ways that we have not previously seen in the past. And so, the reliance on social service organizations, whereas in the past, maybe that was more community support or family support, the need for established organizations to be able to provide services and care is growing significantly.
David Fair: How many seniors are getting service from Ann Arbor Meals on Wheels right now?
Courtney Vanderlaan: Yeah. So, on any given day, we're serving about 250 people. But over the course of the year, we estimate that that will end up being around 480 unduplicated clients that might be receiving meals up to six days a week from us. And that is about an 8% increase from what we saw last year.
David Fair: Operating at capacity or can you serve more as the need grows?
Courtney Vanderlaan: We, in many ways, are sort of always operating at capacity, but we are able to be flexible and to continue meeting the current need for services and for home-delivered meals. We are constantly working on scaling up our operations and diversifying our meal options and the services that we provide, so we can meet those growing and changing needs. And also, that takes additional resources to be able to do that as the cost of food and services and all of those things continue to go up.
David Fair: Like gas prices.
Courtney Vanderlaan: Yes, absolutely.
David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and we're talking with Ann Arbor Meals on Wheels Director Courtney Vanderlaan. And I think because Ann Arbor Meals on Wheels is affiliated with University of Michigan Health, many believe that you always have the resources that you need. Fiction or reality?
Courtney Vanderlaan: Because we are uniquely situated in the context of a health system, we have and are grateful for some of the support that we receive that also looks a lot like the support we receive internally within our department. We are a part of the Department of Community Health Services at the University of Michigan Health, and our department focuses on serving the community both within the hospital walls and out in our geographic area, in our community in Washtenaw County, and various areas outside of the county as well. And so, we are a part of a department that also has five other services and programs that serve older adults. And we are so grateful that we get to work with our colleagues at the Housing Bureau for Seniors and OSHA Lifelong Learning Institute and Silver Club Memory Programs and Turner African-American Services Council and Turner Senior Wellness Program located within the Turner Senior Resource Center to be able to provide good quality, comprehensive care for those that we are serving. Because our programs are all part of the same department at the University of Michigan Health, that uniquely equips us to be able to do these warm handoffs. So, if somebody comes to say, "Hey, I really need Meals on Wheels" through our social work team and our assessment process and getting to know folks, we often will find out there's a need for additional caregiving support here, or there is significant housing instability that this person is facing. And then, we're able to connect them with our other colleagues in our department and in the community to help provide some of those additional resources, which helps to eliminate or reduce at least some of the barriers to accessing services. So, being a part of the University of Michigan Health has provided some base support and some foundational support for our work and for our staffing and also in the ways that we need to be able to grow and be adaptive. That has required us to be able to continue seeking out other funding and other resources to do that. We have our annual Big Hearts for Seniors fundraiser coming up on June 10 at WCC's Morris Lawrence Building, and that fundraiser goes to support the six programs in our department that work with and support older adults. It is also a great opportunity for us just to raise awareness of the work that we do, so that folks know we are here, we care, we want to be able to provide services for them and their loved ones, we are working together collaboratively to do that. And so, we see that annual event as both a fundraiser to support the work, but also a great opportunity to increase awareness in our community.
David Fair: You touched on something that I want to go back and highlight for just a moment, and that is this is not just a meal delivery service. You, in many ways, are the eyes and the ears and the advocates for those that you are serving and ultimately getting them to what amounts to wraparound services. How do you train volunteers in order to create the kind of engagement and relationship that allows you to do that effectively?
Courtney Vanderlaan: Yeah. Establishing a foundational relationship and building rapport with our clients is a top priority for us. That happens at multiple levels of our staffing from the initial point of contact when people are seeking out services, which they can do by visiting our website, or just calling our office and saying, "I need home-delivered meals. I need Meals on Wheels services." And then, our staff do an excellent job, I think, at just talking people through what we can provide who's eligible for our meals. If they're not eligible for home-delivered meals, we'll work to get them connected with a different type of food support that would better meet their specific needs based on where they're located, what their ability is to get to a pantry or store or something like that, or access other benefits. And then, our our trained social workers will do an intake with folks and go through an initial assessment that we do in their home environment. So, there is face-to-face contact, where we come and we meet with them in the space that they feel comfortable in, to get to know more about them, to hear what's happening in their lives, to see what other additional resources might be helpful and beyond home-delivered meals. And then, we work with all of our volunteers and our staff who deliver meals to clients on a daily basis, to both be a friendly face and be a caring person and also keep their eyes and ears out in a way that is respectful and not invasive, but just to notice if somebody seems like they're having a hard time or something about the home environment might seem different.
David Fair: Some folks like to talk, and some folks like to be quiet.
Courtney Vanderlaan: Absolutely, absolutely! So, we completely respect and honor the autonomy of folks in their home environment. One of the neat things about Meals on Wheels is that a lot of our volunteers and certainly our staff who are delivering five to six days a week, but our volunteers are often folks that might deliver once a week or once every other week. And so, there is a level of familiarity that they develop when the folks that they're delivering to, and it becomes easier to identify some of those things and say like, "Yeah. Mr. Johnson usually is really chatty. And today, he just seemed really down, and I'm not sure what's going on with that." And so, we encourage our volunteers to share that with our staff while they're there or when they return from their route. And then, our team will follow up with the client to check in, to see what might be happening, to let them know that we're here, that we care. Sometimes, it requires some more immediate follow-up, but lots of times, it's just important to the client that they know somebody is looking out for them. And we'll recognize if something is off. We also care a lot about building that rapport, so that clients will feel empowered to reach out on their own because we might not always know. And we might not ask just the question that would prompt them to share something. And so, we do a lot of encouraging with our clients through regular communications to know we're here if something comes up. Even if it's not related to meals, we can talk through it, we can get you connected to other resources. A lot of our folks, as I mentioned, are aging alone. They're aging on their own with really limited, if any, other supports outside of Meals on Wheels services. And so, we are needing to show up in some significant ways, more so, I would say, than in years past. And we take that responsibility really seriously and are so grateful for the dedication of commitment of so many volunteers who come alongside with us.
David Fair: It takes a village, right? They say that about children, but it's also about our aging population as well.
Courtney Vanderlaan: Absolutely!
David Fair: Once again, we're talking with Courtney Vanderlaan. She's Director of Ann Arbor Meals on Wheels. Her organization is also a founding member and ongoing partner in Big Hearts for Seniors. She mentioned the partners earlier. Big Hearts For Seniors' 21st annual event taking place June 10th. And what kind of impact does this yearly gathering have in helping serve the elder portion of our community?
Courtney Vanderlaan: So, we bring together a wide variety of sponsors and community members at our annual Big Hearts for Seniors event. Because this event supports six different programs in our department, Ann Arbor Meals on Wheels is just one of those six, the generous donations and contributions and sponsorships that folks provide to us through this annual event help to really fund various components of our operations over the course of the year. The program share the revenue that's raised through the event, and it allows us to do a wide variety of things that might look like buying pantry supplies for our client pantry at Ann Arbor Meals on Wheels. It provides free household supplies and toiletries. It might look like buying art supplies for the folks at Silver Club Memory Program, who are living with mild to moderate memory loss. It can look like various programming at Turner Senior Resource Center for the wellness program. So, it provides programmatic support. We also set up an endowment for the first time ever for Big Hearts for Seniors last year. That is really important for the ongoing support of the six Big Hearts For Seniors programs. We know, and we have seen in particular over the last six years, I would say, since the pandemic, the need to be able to be adaptable and responsive quickly to some of these growing and changing needs. And an endowment really allows us to do this for years to come. And so, we are seeking support for the endowment for folks who are looking and interested in making a lasting gift in that way.
David Fair: You talk about the changes that we've gone through since the pandemic. One of the changes that has been noted throughout the nonprofit community is there are changes in attitudes toward philanthropy and models that work and models that no longer work. So, as you approach a major fundraising event and as you look to the future for ensuring you have the appropriate resources, how do you approach the idea of inspiring more philanthropy?
Courtney Vanderlaan: We talk often, in older adult services, how if we're lucky, we will all be older adults one day. We all know older adults. We all love older adults in different capacities in their lives and the way that we invest in our infrastructure and our systems to support older adults matters both now, and it will matter in the future and all the years to come. We have so many folks right now as folks age and live longer. We have so many people in this season of life who are caring for aging loved ones,, as well as younger children and juggling a wide variety of just life responsibilities at the same time. And so, organizations like Meals on Wheels programs like us, serve a really critical role in coming alongside of people, so that folks are able to age with the dignity and the care that they deserve that we all want to be able to have as we age. I don't know the answer for all the things. I speak often with a lot of passion and care for the older adults in our community and think we are so fortunate that we get to live in a place that has been shaped by the hands and the contributions and the minds and the dedication and commitment of so many older adults in our committee who we now have the privilege of serving and providing really good support for. And we want to be able to continue doing that. And we are in the midst of a time right now where there's a lot of instability and uncertainty around funding at multiple levels. And so, when we talk about at a local level in particular, what that means to invest in our local community, I often say that it takes all of us to take care of all of this. We all have a role that we can play and that we need folks to play, and that sometimes looks like financial contributions, that sometimes it looks like planned gifts, that also looks like signing up to volunteer, that looks like checking on your neighbor, cutting somebody's grass, checking in when you've got a power outage to make sure that somebody's medication can stay at the temperature it needs to. There's so many components to it that sometimes can feel overwhelming, but I think as long as we're all doing something and doing our piece in it, then we are bound to live in the type of community that we want to live or get closer to that.
David Fair: I can't think of a better way to bring our conversation to conclusion. Very well said! And thank you so much for the time and sharing the story today!
Courtney Vanderlaan: Thanks, David!
David Fair: That is Courtney Vanderlaan. She is Director of Ann Arbor Meals on Wheels, and, again, the Big Hearts for Seniors annual event coming up on Wednesday, June 10th. If you'd like more information on that and more information about the rest of the conversation we've had today, visit our website at WEMU.org. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU Ypsilanti.
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