Maintaining our capacity for sustainable health and wellbeing is a growing concern amongst older Canadians, as ensuring access to regular, healthy, nutritious meals is becoming increasingly costly, difficult, or otherwise prohibitive.
For those living in Waterloo Region, Community Support Connections has you covered.
“All the meals are so very nice. They’re so well prepared. … I can’t expect more,” notes Fred, an ongoing customer of their Meals on Wheels program.
A not-for-profit organization serving Cambridge, Kitchener, North Dumfries, and Waterloo, Community Support Connections is committed to caring for the community at home, providing a myriad of services to reduce the burden on the local health system. They work with more than 700 volunteers to provide tangible physical, emotional, and social supports to older adults in their community. Addressing nutrition and food security is at the forefront of their operations, exemplified by their robust Meals on Wheels program.
Dedicated to providing quality food service, all of the agency’s hot meals are prepared fresh daily in their professional, on-site kitchen, made with care by Red Seal chefs. In addition to this high standard of excellence, each meal is consciously prepared to meet the guidelines established by Canada’s Food Guide, and can be tailored to individual dietary restrictions, such as low-sodium meals for cardiac-sensitive individuals. The organization works with local food producers, and has their own volunteer-supported on-site garden for increased quality and value.
Margaret (pictured), a long-time client of the not-for-profit, is quick to speak of the difference regular access to these nutritious meals has made.
“Meals on Wheels helps me stay focused. I don’t think I’m old. My doctor is always so surprised – he says to me, ‘you have more energy than I do!’”
Delivered over the lunch hour on weekdays, every customer orders at the frequency they desire, and a sliding-cost scale ensures you can purchase at a price point that suits your needs.
More than just a meal, the agency’s Meals on Wheels operation is supported by a dedicated contingent of volunteers, who personally deliver to customers’ homes. Every individual receives not only a meal, but regular social engagement with friendly community members.
Ray is grateful for the invaluable service the organization has provided him.
“[Their] role in my life means my children don’t have to worry about me. This feeling of independence has changed my life in so many ways.”
Community Support Connections relies on more than 1,300 volunteers and donors to help over 7,600 clients in Waterloo Region live at home with independence and dignity. The agency’s services are strategically focused in four areas to maximize impact: Nutrition, Physical Health, Social Wellbeing, and Help at Home.
