VOC Stories: Meals on Wheels SF E14

Episode 14: Meals on Wheels San Francisco

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Meals on Wheels staff and volunteers preparing, packing and delivering food to seniors as well as the new kitchen to increase producing food

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“I think there are a lot of positive things that come out of a crisis. And certainly it's caring for one another is one of them.”

In this episode we feature the voice of Jim Oswald the Director of Marketing and Communications with Meals on Wheels San Francisco. Over their 50 years of operations in San Francisco Meals on Wheels is the only organization to provide homebound seniors two home-delivered meals a day 7 days a week. In addition to providing meals, the Meals on Wheels San Francisco team provides our fellow senior community members with wrap around support services such as Nutrition Counseling, Well-being and Safety Checks, Social Work and Case Management as well as coordinating minor home repairs and volunteer based grocery shopping and social phone calls to check in with homebound seniors

Jim Oswald

Jim Oswald joined Meals on Wheels San Francisco in November 2018 as Director of Marketing and Communications where he is responsible for brand management, messaging, and marketing and communications strategy to raise visibility and increase public engagement. Jim has worked in the nonprofit space for nearly 20 years and has served in similar capacities at Edgewood Center for Children and Families and at The Marine Mammal Center.

He was the founder of Oswald Media Communications specializing in broadcast media training and outreach placements for both corporate businesses and nonprofits. Previously, he worked as a Senior Account Executive at Niehaus, Ryan, Wong Public Relations – a South San Francisco firm that represented some of the biggest household names including Netflix, Yahoo, Pixar, and eBay. Prior to PR, Jim was a broadcaster starting his career as a radio reporter and anchor at KMPH-FM in Fresno, CA. Later, he moved over to television and became a news producer, writer and field reporter for NBC affiliate KSEE in Fresno, CA. 

Jim graduated from California State University, Fresno with a BA in Broadcast Communications. He is a Gulf War veteran and served in the Air Force during Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990-91. Today, he lives in San Francisco with his husband, Marty, and their Mini Dachshund, Lulu.

Meals on Wheels San Francisco

Since 1970, Meals on Wheels San Francisco has provided homebound seniors and adults with disabilities residing in the City with what they need to live independent and dignified lives – nutritious meals, professional social work services including wellness checks, and a friendly visitor. Our programs fulfill a moral and economic imperative to care for older adults in the most cost-effective way possible.

Meals on Wheels San Francisco is the only nonprofit organization in the San Francisco Bay Area that can deliver 2 meals daily to senior clients. The program is free for older adults, generally age 60+, who live in the city and county of San Francisco and, generally, are not able to access nutritious meals or prepare meals for themselves.

In 2019, staff and volunteers delivered 2.2 million meals to 4,300 seniors and adults with disabilities – that’s approximately 8,000 meals a day!

Our Mission:

Meals on Wheels San Francisco provides a network of services that allow seniors to live in their homes with dignity and independence as long as possible.

The Need in San Francisco:

San Francisco, like many U.S. communities, has a growing number of seniors aging at home with limited financial resources, limited family support, and limited access to nutritious food. By 2030, nearly 30% of San Francisco residents will be age 60 or older. Additionally, a staggering 56% of seniors in the City live in economic insecurity and 73% live on less than $1,000 a month. Approximately 70% of the seniors we serve in San Francisco live alone.

We can provide a senior Meals on Wheels for 1 YEAR for roughly the same cost as 1 DAY in a hospital.

Our Services:

· Home Delivered Meals – delivery of hot and cold meals to approximately 3,600 older adults daily

· Home Delivered Groceries – delivered weekly to nearly 500 older adults and adults with disabilities who cannot shop for themselves

· Nutrition Education Counseling – provide counseling sessions to nearly 1,500 seniors

· Well Being & Safety Checks – daily; in 2019 more than 226,000

· Social Work & Case Management – home visits and referrals to critical outside services

· Home Safety & Urgent Needs – minor home repair, ongoing distribution of grab bars, smoke detectors, microwaves, and refrigerators

· Volunteer Match Program – helping to reduce isolation and loneliness

In 2020, Meals on Wheels San Francisco celebrates 50 years of nourishing the whole person. Additionally, Meals on Wheels San Francisco completed the construction of a brand new state-of-the-art industrial kitchen that will expand meal production capacity from 8,000 meals a day to 20,000. The Meals on Wheels kitchen, located in the Sangiacomo Flynn Building in San Francisco, will begin producing meals for senior clients by November 2020.  Learn more at mowsf.org/kitchen.

Learn how you can support Meals on Wheels San Francisco and get involved at www.MOWSF.org and on follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter @MOWSF and LinkedIn.

Donation / Volunteer

Now more than ever, home bound seniors need our support to help them through tough and challenging times.  Donations are greatly appreciated at https://www.mowsf.org/donate

With the holidays fast approaching, we do have volunteer opportunities that will mean so much to our clients including friendly social caller and grocery shopping programs, as well as our popular card making activities. More details on how to get involved can be found at https://www.mowsf.org/volunteer

Videos

To find out more about Meals on Wheels San Francisco’s impact on seniors please check out our videos:

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Our Sponsorship

We are fiscally sponsored by Intersection for the Arts, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which allows us to offer you tax deductions for your contributions. Please consider making a donation to help us provide future shows just like this one. If you want to send us a check, please make checks payable to Intersection for the Arts and write [Voices of the Community] in the memo line of your check. This ensures that you’ll receive an acknowledgement letter for tax purposes, and your donation will be available for our project.

1446 Market Street | San Francisco, CA 94102 | (415) 626-2787