The City of Glendale’s Senior Services Unit began making immediate changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 12, 2020, with a directive coming from County of Los Angeles Workforce Development, Aging, and Community Services to stop all congregate meal operations at the community centers. The City closed all three meal sites at the Adult Recreation Center, Sparr Heights Community Center, and Pacific Community Center on March 13, 2020, and transitioned to a staggered brown bag lunch pick-up operation from the community centers, and then transitioned to frozen meal delivery service to over 200 unduplicated seniors living in the greater Glendale area.
With limited vehicles in the Elderly Nutrition Program (ENP) fleet, CSP partnered with the Public Works Dial A Ride (DAR) program to assist with meal deliveries. Before the COVID-19 crisis, DAR services included transportation to hundreds of seniors who attended the congregate meals services on site at City facilities. With the Centers closed and DAR not transporting seniors, DAR drivers and ENP staff began working together to load frozen meals onto DAR vehicles and deliver a week’s worth of meals to over 240 seniors each week.
On average, the ENP program would serve 3,400 meals to seniors monthly. Currently, we are serving over 5,000 meals to seniors, and this number continues to grow. Many seniors who do not have refrigerators, freezers, or warming mechanisms at their home to heat up frozen meals have the option of picking up a brown bag lunch.
The meal distribution plan for seniors currently enrolled in the Elderly Nutrition Program (ENP) is as follows:
7 days of frozen meals to seniors who have the means to warm up and store the food in refrigerator/freezer.
Delivery by City staff or pick up option by the senior or friend/family/designee of senior on assigned days between 3:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
A Brown Bag meal will be distributed to those who don’t have the means to warm up frozen meals and new clients* at two locations:
Adult Recreation Center – 201 East Colorado, Glendale, CA 91205 – 7 days a week
Brown Bag Lunch Pick-up time is from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Main Lobby entrance near the Glendale Central Library
Sparr Heights Community Center – 1613 Glencoe Way, Glendale, CA 91208 – Monday – Friday ONLY
Brown Bag Lunch Pick-up time is from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Paloma Ave. entrance
*New Clients must fill out Universal Intake Form before receiving meal:
New Client’s must be 60 years of age and older.
Availability is based on supply
For information and inquiries related to the Elderly Nutrition Program, please call (818) 548-3775.
In addition to serving seniors 60 years and older with either weekly frozen meal delivery or a daily brown bag lunch, the ENP program is working with the Glendale Police Department and our Homeless Services Section to ensure that homeless individuals also receive a brown bag lunch. Monday through Saturday, Glendale Police Officers and staff from Ascencia pick up brown bag lunches from the Adult Recreation Center to distribute them to homeless who are on the streets without access to food due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 23, 2020, over 30 brown bag lunches are picked up daily.
ENP staff continues to receive hundreds of calls related to meal service and meal delivery. Each call is fielded to a senior case manager for enrollment or assistance with what the senior may request. The Supportive Services Program (SSP), better known as “case management”, has been able to provide over 300 hygiene bags in March to seniors who have been asked to remain at home. The hygiene bags include: toilet paper, paper towel roll, shampoo, bar soap, hand sanitizer, tooth brush, tooth paste, denture glue, and other supplies. SSP is providing a second round of hygiene bags in April 2020.
In addition, Community Services & Parks is collaborating with the Glendale Police Department to reintroduce the “Caring Caller Program” which was eliminated back in 2011. The return of this program will allow the Senior Services Unit case managers to make referrals directly to GPD’s Community Policing Unit for additional well-being calls to seniors especially vulnerable due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Caring Caller Program will continue operations post-COVID-19 with the Senior Services Unit continuing to assist with information and referral services for this program on an as needed basis.
For information and inquiries related to the Elderly Nutrition Program, please call (818) 548-3775.
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