WASHINGTON – The Donald Trump administration’s Monday night announcement that it would pause all federal grants has caused concern among nonprofit organizations that administer senior nutrition programs like Meals on Wheels.
The order from the Office of Management and Budget said federal agencies should pause federal “financial assistance” grants and review whether they further things like “woke gender ideology” or DEI initiatives fostering diversity, equity and inclusion.
The federal government offers a wide range of grants to states and local charitable organizations that could be affected by the order. Meals on Wheels America, a member organization for thousands of local affiliates that deliver food to seniors in their homes, said the order could affect operations.
“If in fact this order includes the Older Americans Act, this would presumably halt service to millions of vulnerable seniors who have no other means of purchasing or preparing meals,” Jenny Young, a spokeswoman for Meals on Wheels America, said in an email.
A senior administration official insisted Meals on Wheels recipients have nothing to fear: “No benefits to individuals are affected by this,” the official told HuffPost, adding that the pause could be as short as a day if federal agencies determine the funding aligns with the president’s priorities.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when asked Tuesday if Meals on Wheels or Head Start programs would be affected, suggested they would not.
“Individuals at home who receive direct assistance from the federal government, you will not be impacted by this federal freeze,” Leavitt said.
A footnote in the memo says the term “financial assistance” does not include “assistance provided directly to individuals,” which the administration said meant programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would not be affected.
But Meals on Wheels is different. Federal grants under the Older Americans Act flow through state agencies and then to roughly 5,0000 community-based senior nutrition providers, which typically work with volunteers to deliver hot meals to people’s homes.
“So funding does not go directly to the individual recipient,” Young said.
HuffPost obtained an internal OMB memo requesting information on grant programs from federal agencies. The section for Department of Health and Human Services grants lists special programs for the aging and “senior nutrition,” meaning the grants that go to Meals on Wheels programs are literally on a list of potentially targeted programs.
Meals on Wheels America has said federal funding only covers about 35% of the 2 million meals a day its member organizations deliver, with the rest covered by donations. But since nonprofit organizations are reimbursed after the fact, a pause in funding has created uncertainty for some of those local groups.
“And the uncertainty right now is creating chaos for local Meals on Wheels providers not knowing whether they should be serving meals today,” Young said. “Which unfortunately means seniors will panic not knowing where their next meals will come from.”