Dec. 03--The DuPage Senior Citizens Council will be forced to close its eight Community Dining sites and reduce its Meals on Wheels delivery next year if the state budget impasse continues, officials said.
The decision, effective Jan. 11, would leave thousands of DuPage County seniors without a safety net, council officials said in a news release.
Each year, the volunteer organization receives $700,000 in payments from the Illinois General Revenue Fund to cover home-delivered meals for vulnerable seniors in the county. The council hasn't received state funding since July, and has since been using reserve dollars and outside funding to keep the Meals on Wheels program alive.
Those outside funds, officials said, are now exhausted.
"It is heartbreaking to have to scale back our 'Meals on Wheels' operation," said Executive Director Marylin Krolak in the release. "For the past seven months, we have been able to cover the costs of this program, but we can simply no longer do so. We hope our state legislators resolve this situation as soon as possible."
The council has been running a variety of programs, including Community Dining and Meals on Wheels, since 1975. The council's Well-Being Check program, which provides seniors with a daily well-being check to ensure their safety and health, will continue to operate five days a week with the help of hundreds of volunteers, officials said.
meltagouri@tribune.com
