Ohio Meals on Wheels Receives Large Donation
By Barry Zimmer on July 17th, 2018 in Estate Planning
A Cincinnati elder law attorney helps seniors to take advantage of different benefits programs available to them. The assistance that an attorney provides will vary depending upon the extent of a senior’s needs. Often, older people will eventually need long-term care at home or will need nursing home care and an attorney at Zimmer Law Firm can provide assistance in making certain that this care is affordable and that a legacy is not lost due to high nursing home care bills.
While many seniors eventually need nursing home care, it is also common for people to try to remain independent for as long as possible and to try to continue living in their homes for as long as possible. This can be true even after doing basic tasks, such as preparing hot meals, becomes more difficult. The good news is, there are benefits programs and services in place that are aimed at helping seniors to stay independent in their homes even once they have begun to struggle. One of those programs is meals on wheels, and according to The Vindicator, the Central Ohio meals on wheels program received a substantial donation not too long ago in support of the important services that it provides to the elderly.
Ohio Meals-on-Wheels Receives Large Donation
According to The Vindicator, recent reports indicate that the Meals on Wheels Program in the central Ohio area recently received a donation of $5 million. The donation was provided to the organization anonymously.
The donation was not just a standard donation. It was received as a challenge grant. A challenge grant means that the person who has donated the money will also match any new gifts that are made to the group’s endowment fund and will match any increase in existing gifts that are made to the endowment fund. The challenge grant will provide for up to $5 million in matching funding when donations are made from new gifts or when existing donors increase the amount that they are given.
The president and CEO of the Central Ohio Meals on Wheels program that received the funds has indicated that the group currently has an endowment fund that is valued at around $6 million. The group got right to work to earn the matching funds from the challenge grant and had already collected approximately $300,000 at the time that the article was written.
The Vindicator indicates that donations like this one that support the group are very important because the funding available to the meals-on-wheels program from the government has decreased by approximately 20 percent since 2001. At the same time as the big decrease in government funding occurred, Meals on Wheels significantly increased the number of people that the organization is serving. It went from serving approximately 7,500 seniors in 2001 to serving as many as 20,000 people today. The group provides around 5,000 meals every single day in Central Ohio, both to the elderly as well as to people suffering from chronic medical conditions.
Getting Help from a Cincinnati Elder Law Attorney
Even with programs such as meals-on-wheels, seniors may still become unable to live in their homes when performing activities of daily living becomes too difficult. For the elderly who need long-term care or who must move into a nursing home, it can be very expensive to pay for care and Medicare typically will not pay anything towards these services except in very limited circumstances where skilled nursing care is needed.
Zimmer Law Firm can provide help to seniors who want to ensure they are able to get their care costs paid for. To find out more about how a Cincinnati elder law attorney at our firm can help you to get the costs of your nursing home care covered, join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call at 513-721-1513 today to learn more.