MANTI – Federal COVID relief money is helping keep senior centers and Meals on Wheels afloat in the Six-County Area for now, but the long-term future is uncertain.
Brock Jackson, aging and volunteer services director for the Six-County Association of Governments (AOG), says Sanpete County has sent in an extra $45,000 to help aging services programs through the end of 2022.
The county drew the money from more than $3 million it expects to receive through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), a measure passed in 2021 to help the nation’s economy recover from COVID-19.
According to Scott Bartholomew, Sanpete County Commission chairman, other counties in the Six-County AOG are talking about contributing. But as of last week, Jackson said none had done so.
“We are still in the same boat,” Jackson said. But he said of the Sanpete contribution, “[It] helps. It gives us a buffer.”
The main problem is that the senior programs have not been able to keep up with rising wages in the region, Jackson said. As of March 2021, the organization had 17 job openings.
A lot of those openings were created because the standard wage for cooks at senior centers and drivers for Meals on Wheels was $10 per hour. Food service operations such as McDonald’s or Wendy’s are paying as much as $15 or $16 per hour.
With the $45,000 from Sanpete County, the Six-County AOG has raised pay to $12 per hour. As of last week, Six-County had six openings in senior programs. Jackson said they had recently hired two new employees.
But what happens beyond this year after emergency funds are exhausted?
“I don’t know,” Bartholomew said. “That’s a good question. They’ve got to find a solution.”
If new permanent funding is not found, Bartholomew says drastic measures may have to be taken, including the elimination of some services. But he said he hopes it will not come to that.
Currently, senior centers and Meals on Wheels receive federal money with matching money from the state and counties.
At a Manti City Council meeting on Feb. 16, Mayor Chuck Bigelow brought a suggestion from the commission that cities ask their residents, much as the Sanpete Pantry does.
Bigelow noted that the seniors who use the programs aren’t required to pay. “It’s voluntary; they can pay if they have the money or if they want to, but they’re not required to.”
“If that money doesn’t come in or they’re not able to solve this problem, it’s really the senior citizens [who suffer],” Councilman Jason Vernon said during the Manti council discussion. “I mean, Meals on Wheels goes away, lots of different things go away, which would be just a travesty for that population.”
