The Atlanta Regional Commission has allocated $1.9 million in federal relief funds to expand meal delivery services for older adults in 10 metro counties.
The funding will provide food for an additional 1,500 people who are now food insecure, according to a statement from the ARC, which is the official planning agency for the 10 counties that make up metro Atlanta.
The money comes from the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which was approved by Congress to respond to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the coronavirus shut down parts of the economy, a increased number of people are now suffering from “food insecurity,” which is a technical term that refers to someone who does not always have access to nutritious food.
Those burdens are likely heightened for older people, who are believed to be at greater risk for the virus. The ARC’s food delivery efforts had already increased before the latest funds were allocated.
“In April, the collaboration between ARC and its partners resulted in 85% more people receiving home-delivered meals than during an average month the previous year — and this was before the new federal funding was available for ARC to distribute,” Becky Kurtz, the managing director of ARC’s Aging and Independence Services division, said in a statement.
Here is a full breakdown of the funds:
- Cherokee County Senior Services: $100,654
- Clayton County Senior Services: $110,714
- Cobb County Senior Services: $277,170
- DeKalb County Office of Aging: $345,137
- Douglas County Senior Services: $65,594
- Fayette Senior Services: $63,652
- Fulton County Department of Senior Services: $445,335
- Gwinnett County Senior Services: $306,915
- Henry County Senior Services: $91,015
- Rockdale County Senior Services: $50,272
- Center for Pan Asian Community Services: $64,400
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