Every Monday, Maurine Gentis, a retired teacher, waits for a tradition from meals on South Texas wheels.
“Meals help to stretch my budget,” said Ms Gentis, 77 years old. Living alone in a wheelchair, he estimates that she has someone to look at her regularly. The same team, a non -profit, delivers books from the library and dry food for her cat.
But Ms. Gentis is anxious about what’s ahead. The small government agency responsible for supervising programs such as wheel meals is disassembled as part of the revision of the administration of the US Ministry of Health and Human Services. About half of his staff have left recent layoffs and all 10 of his 10 regional offices are closed, according to several employees who have lost their job.
“I’m just worried that the whole thing can go under the sewage, too,” Ms Gentis said.
In President Trump’s attempt to end what he described as “illegal and unethical distinction programs”, one of his executive orders promoted federal efforts to improve accessibility and representation for those with disabilities, with organizations marking words such as “accessible” and “accessible” words. Some research studies are no longer funded and many government -specific health officials have been fired.
The reduction of the organization, the management for the living of the community, is part of the extensive cuts designed to HHS under the budget of the proposed budget of the Trump administration.
While some federal funding may continue until September, the end of government financial use and some workers have temporarily called on, there is significant uncertainty about the future. And some groups report delays in taking expected federal funds.
“There is a lot of confusion,” said Becky Yanni, Council of Directors of the County County. Johns in Florida. He said he has said that the latest funding for the Weels on Wheels and other services may be delayed.
If funding does not arrive, “in many communities, you will consider cuts in services,” said Sandy Markwood, chief executive for cover, which represents the network of aging organizations.
The community’s living department helps to coordinate services and provide funding for American elderly and disabled so that they can stay home instead of living in a nursing home. With a budget of $ 2.6 billion, the unit represents a tiny fraction of total HHS costs.
According to the reorganization introduced by Health Minister Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the responsibilities of the Community unit will be divided among other organizations, including centers for Medicare and Medicaid services and management for children and families.
“This integration allows the Department to better meet the current health needs of vulnerable populations across the country,” a HHS spokesman said in a statement. “This does not affect the important task of these critical programs as it will continue elsewhere in HHS”
So far, many programs within the unit will be eliminated in accordance with the proposed budget, including one who provides mediators in nursing homes, to ensure the safety and prosperity of residents and rest programs to provide a break for those who care for an elderly person. States will also have a greater scope to determine where funds should be available.
In addition to the deliveries of meals, the Living Agency supports numerous programs, including non -profit independent living centers, which are staffed by people with disabilities, who help the elderly and others with disabilities to be removed from hospitals.
Theo W. Braddy, Director of the National Council for Independent Life, which represents centers and people with disabilities, said uncertainty has increased planning.
“Everyone is on the edge. We can tell them anything because we know nothing yet,” he said, adding that none of the Trump administration or HHS has tried to contact the team with updates.
Supporters say recent cuts have further marginalized elderly Americans and those with disabilities. “The bottom line is that those responsible people are simply not interested in large areas of the American people,” said Dr. Joanne Lynne, a clinical professor of geriatrics and comforting at George Washington University.
“We have lived with disability and old age extremely unpleasant,” he said. “We are on the way to make it almost unacceptable.”
Community groups such as wheel meals are perched for significant cuts. In addition to the possible loss of funding by the administration to live the community, Republican legislators are proposing to reduce grants in states using another federal funding. Trump’s management and Republicans are also pushing for significant cuts in the Medicaid program, which provides care for care for low -income Americans.
“We are worried about a series of possible threats that are happening at the same time,” said Josh Protas, the main defender and luncheon for meals at Wheels America, a union of local non -profit organizations. About one -third of the Union’s local units already have waiting lists, he said, and the lower funding would result in fewer meals for fewer people.
People who are 60 years old and older with low incomes and who find it difficult to prepare food for themselves usually qualify for wheel meals. Demand for services is increasing as food prices grow and more people need help. More than two million elderly Americans receive food deliveries each year and many say they will find it difficult to pay for meals without the program.
“Meals on wheels are a god for me,” said Richard Beatty, a 70 -year -old with poor eyesight and limited mobility living in Baltimore. It receives deliveries four times a week and is not sure he would manage without the program.
If there are cuts in funding, programs should make tough choices about who would be eligible for deliveries. “We need to make drastic changes to who we served,” said Dan Capone, Managing Director of Meals at Wheels South Texas, who serves about 300 people a week, including Ms Gentis. His team also receives private donations, with federal funds representing about 40 % of the budget, he said.
The federal community unit under the ax also plays a key role in supporting Americans with disabilities, including older people.
“Much of the project we do is give people dignity in their lives,” said Karen Tamley, CEO of Access Living, a Chicago -based center, one of the 400 in all the United States.
Centers connect people with a variety of services and offer work and skills training to young adults with disabilities. They can teach someone to drive or help them find affordable housing.
The management for the living of the community has helped organisms tour state and local bureaucrats responsible for the abolition of federal capital. When Mr Capone wanted more clarity about how Texas distributes money, he comes in contact with the Dallas Regional Office. “As soon as we started to build this relationship with the field office and this field office is gone,” he said.
“It is frustrating on a practical level,” said Fay Gordon, one of the regional administrators who were left earlier this month. “These programs are live and need direction.”
Some groups do not wait before they begin to take measures to reduce costs. Brittany Boyd-Chisholm, chief executive of the Central Pennsylvania Independent Life Center, said that more than half of its funding came from the federal service. It has asked all managers, including themselves, to receive a reduction in the salary of between 5 and 10 percent and weighs other actions. She said her center was already subjective.
No one gave her information about future grants and her emails have been returned. “It makes you feel completely alone,” said Ms Boyd-Chisholm.
Created under the administration of Obama, the Agency aimed to integrate the project of three other organizations: the administration for aging, the office for disability and the administration for developmental disabilities.
“These programs that were together and the cooperation concerned efficiency and were related to coordination,” said Alison Barkoff, former President Biden, who resigned from last fall.
During the first administration of Trump, at the height of the pandemic, the Agency worked with the Department’s Office for Civil Rights to ensure that hospitals and doctors had clear guidelines, so that if the staffing fell shortly, they would not refuse to care for those who had care.
“We had found common ground and issues to work together,” said Daniel Davis, who worked for the Agency’s policy and evaluation center, whose staff were fired, according to former employees.
