The Commission on Aging talked with community members regarding their concerns about Newtown Senior Center’s (NSC) meal program at its February 24 meeting.

During public comment, Newtown resident and senior center member Peggy Posteraro raised her concerns about the program’s free lunches and whether the food meets the nutritional needs of senior citizens.

Connecticut’s Senior Nutrition Program provides nutritionally balanced meals to people ages 60 and over. These meals also give adults the chance to socialize with other members of their community. The meals are served at cafes called “Senior Nutrition Providers,” which are located in schools, churches, restaurants, and other locations. Newtown Senior Center is one such congregate meal site.

Funding for the congregate meal programs is provided to each Area Agency on Agency in the state, which oversees distributing funds to meal providers in the region.

In the fall, Human Services and Senior Center Director Natalie Griffith shared the news from the Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging (WCAAA) that the agency would transition to pre-COVID funding levels for nutrition services. WCAAA told Griffith the increased costs of goods and services created higher meal rates and, in turn, fewer meals available for distribution.

WCAAA also said it would instead focus on allocating resources to the higher-risk, homebound population within its region. In December, Griffith said the Town was notified its meals were being cut from 120 per month to 60. As a result, Griffith said the senior center cut its service delivery down to one day per week.

Meal Program Concerns

Posteraro said she attended the “Pizza with the People: A Slice of Conversation with the First Selectman” event on Friday, February 21, when seniors were invited to enjoy a slice of pizza and discuss the latest updates around town with First Selectman Jeff Capeci.

Among the many topics discussed there, she said, was the lunches offered at the senior center. Griffith shared then that the free lunches were cut because of significant budget cuts at the federal level that trickled down to the state level.

After another attendee suggested asking local restaurants to donate their leftovers at the end of each night to seniors, Griffith said the COA would discuss the topic at its next meeting. She and the COA also wanted to explore avenues to help increase service delivery back to two days per week, Griffith said.

Posteraro said she and other NSC members wanted to learn what resolutions are being brought up to address the location’s nutritional issues. If the COA has influence over the meal program as far as funding, Posteraro said, then she wanted to know how they could help facilitate progress to improving it.

“I think the big issue is getting a better understanding of how the [meal] program is influenced by the Commission on Aging, if at all,” Posteraro said.

Another concern raised by Posteraro was on the funds allocated to NSC, which she said was brought up by Capeci at the “Pizza with the People” event and in other past meetings. Posteraro said she heard $10,000 was allocated to the senior center, but was confused as to why it was “sitting in the municipal office budget rather than the senior center budget.”

She said facilities in surrounding areas including New Milford and Brookfield have had and continue to offer four full days of food service.

When Brookfield faced those same cuts, Griffith said their local “Friends of” group allocated funds to add an additional service day to their meal program. She also noted Danbury kept its service day because the city designated some American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for that.

As far as the $10,000 mentioned, Griffith said she did not know what Capeci was referring to. The only funds she said came out of her budget this year was around $10,000 allocated to staff increases, which Griffith noted might be the money Posteraro was talking about.

Due to concerns with union contract and the Town, Griffith said those salaries were not approved and, in turn, removed from the budget. She tried moving the $10,000 in salary reserve into operating this last fiscal year. Griffith noted it took about a year for the final decision that the request was not going to be approved, and so the money came out of her project.

“That [$10,000] had nothing to do with meals,” Griffith said.

The only other funds removed from budget, she said, were for a part-time service line, which included some bus driving and additional staffing around the holidays for the Holiday Basket Program. The staffing for the latter, she noted, was moved to the Social Service line and is still in the Human Services budget.

Posteraro said she felt blessed because she can choose to buy a meal at the senior center or bring a meal from home. She said some of her peers do not have the luxury. It was out of the concern she has for fellow senior center members, Posteraro said, that led her to ask what the COA is doing to secure more funding.

“This is not an activity. This is a part of life. People need their food; they need their nutrition,” Posteraro continued.

Future Goals

When asked by Posteraro if the COA has a committee that deals with nutritional issues, Commissioner LeReine Frampton said the commission does not have individual committees. Instead, she said, they address needs as they arise.

Posteraro then asked whether the COA was petitioning the municipal building office. Frampton responded that commissions like the COA don’t have any authority to go to the Town. Instead, she said that’s done by the department heads.

“When Natalie goes to speak, we can go and support her. We can’t ask them because we don’t have a budget through the Town, so we can’t ask for an increase to a budget we don’t have” Frampton explained.

Newtown resident and senior center member Roberta Roberts spoke next, saying she and other members love the center and were here to support it however they can. She asked if they could ask members if they’d be willing to pay more per year or per month as a stipend if they thought it could go towards a few extra days of meals.

Griffith said she thinks creating a task force to address those issues would help identify all the possibilities they could take. Not only do they have ideas as staff, but Griffith said she has also had members come to her with various ideas.

“So I think to pool all of those and then really have a very thoughtful overview of what could be done and figure out what is feasible makes the most sense for our community,” Griffith said.

Griffith also noted they are constantly trying to figure out what draws people in and what excites them to eat at the senior center. Posteraro and Roberts echoed this, saying some members would visit more frequently if the center served a larger variety of food.

The approximate cost per meal for the program currently is $13 and up, according to Griffith. Senior center members contribute $5 per meal, with the additional $8 subsidized by WCAAA through funding. Griffith said there are currently 8-20 members who dine at the center regularly, with the average being 12.

Commissioner Stephen Riccitelli said if they really want to increase the program in terms of availability, having more members use the program would make it easier to advocate for.

“I don’t want to turn people away, but if we can get to our capacity of 20 people every one of those days, it makes it easier for us to say, ‘Hey, we really need to increase this because this shows a real need,’” Riccitelli explained.

Griffith said they will create a list of five to six other similar communities and ask them three to four key questions on how they are operating and tackling the issue. Posteraro offered to do informal polling on the topic, while the COA members hope to do a more formal poll on the issue in the future.

Frampton said she would check in with the Newtown High School culinary program and see if they would be willing to contribute some food to the senior center. She and fellow COA member Pat Bailey will also ask local restaurants if they would be willing to donate their leftovers at the end of the night to the senior center.

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.