HAGERSTOWN, Md. — The Housing Authority of Hagerstown is reaching out to local churches, businesses, and community groups for help providing meals to older adults and residents with disabilities at Potomac Towers. Changes to a previous meal program have left some residents without a healthy lunch on two days each week.
Many Potomac Towers residents have fixed, limited incomes and face physical challenges that make it hard to shop for groceries or prepare meals, according to the Housing Authority.
For years, the Washington County Commission on Aging’s Congregate Meal Program served meals at Potomac Towers five days a week. Later, the program was cut back to three days, which left some residents without a healthy lunch on the other two weekdays, the Housing Authority said.
To fill this gap, the Hagerstown Housing Authority started the Potomac Towers Lunch Program.
The program now provides healthy lunches on those two days each week to approximately 20 to 30 residents, helping ensure they have more consistent access to nutritious meals.
Officials from the Housing Authority said the need for this program has grown because food prices have gone up and SNAP benefits have been reduced.
“We are committed to continuing this vital service, but we cannot do it alone,” the Housing Authority said.
Community organizations can help
The Housing Authority is looking for partnerships with local churches, businesses, civic groups and other organizations to help keep the program going.
Groups can support the Potomac Towers Lunch Program by providing lunch once a month or once a quarter, donating food or meal supplies, or making financial donations to help cover the program’s costs.
The Housing Authority said this help would give residents more than just food.
“Your support will provide far more than a meal,” the organization said. “It will offer nourishment, companionship, dignity, and the reassurance that our seniors and neighbors with disabilities are cared for by the community they call home.”
