Amy and George Hsu look forward to an affordable lunch five days a week at Sunnyvale United Methodist Church. It’s where they socialize with dozens of older adults, listen to a lively jazz band play “Blueberry Hill” and get a meal with fresh fruit and vegetables they wouldn’t be able to budget for on a daily basis.
“Every morning, first thing … ‘Oh, we have lunch. We have to go,’” George Hsu told San José Spotlight with a smile. “So it moves you forward.”
About 37 senior nutrition programs serve 16,000 older adults a free or low-priced lunch across Santa Clara County, according to 2024 county data. The programs keep growing every year, as the region’s aging population on a fixed income struggles to purchase affordable, nutritious food and find activities to combat loneliness. The county’s roughly $12 million budget for the programs can’t keep up with rising demand, even with hundreds of thousands of dollars in reimbursements for extra meals. The situation is leaving the programs in a financially unpredictable state.
The Sunnyvale program the Hsus attend overserves meals outside its county-allocated budget. Santa Clara County funds about 138 meals a day, but program volunteers said they dish out 150 to 170 meals Monday through Friday, with food like chicken cordon bleu. It’s the same story for 14 programs in San Jose, two in Palo Alto, one in Los Gatos and multiple others across the county.
@sanjosespotlight
Santa Clara County’s senior nutrition programs are growing every year, as the region’s older adults on fixed incomes struggle to purchase affordable, nutritious food. The county’s $12 million budget for its 37 senior nutrition programs isn’t keeping up with the rising demand, even with reimbursements for extra meals. Read more at SanJoseSpotlight.com. #santaclaracounty #siliconvalley #bayarea #seniors #olderadults #nutrition #localnews
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Ronald Nathan, chairperson for the Sunnyvale program volunteer committee, said they rely on church funding and county reimbursements to subsidize extra meals. He constantly worries about having to turn people away because the county budget fluctuates, especially with a potential $70 million in federal funding cuts this year. County and church funds cover the nearly $500,000-a-year program, which couldn’t feed many older adults without government support.
“We don’t turn anybody back unless we’ve absolutely run out of food,” Nathan told San José Spotlight. “There’s a budget and (there’s) the people who need it. How do you balance that?”
Santa Clara County is trying to address the need.
Vandana Puri, manager of the county senior nutrition program, said the county is adjusting the fiscal year 2025-26 contracts of every program that has overserved. The 2025-26 county budget proposes giving the whole program $1.5 million to make up for the gap left by pandemic dollars it no longer receives. The county even stepped in last year to fund more than $100,000 in meals for San Jose services.
It’s not enough in a county facing an elder boom. By 2030, county officials predict adults age 60 and older will comprise more than 25% of the population.
Puri said the county has never fully funded individual senior nutrition programs, adding it’s about collaboration.
“How we move all these pieces to be responsive to the growing need is something we rely on each organization to help us understand, so we can be effective in how we support the program as a whole,” she told San José Spotlight.
The Los Gatos program, which serves about 90 older adults daily, relies on a combination of resources. The county is reimbursing it about $20,000 for overserved meals, according to program management. It also typically receives $22,000 from the town and $25,000 from Los Gatos Thrives Foundation, an older adult nonprofit.
Even with that combination, Executive Director Kathy Mlinarich said the program is often in the red. It will still have a roughly $23,000 deficit after the county reimbursement. It’s unclear if it will get town funding while Los Gatos is contending with its own shortfalls.
Mlinarich said without the county’s reimbursements, which she called “Band-Aids,” the program could run two more years before it would have to turn people away.
“It’s just going to keep growing,” she told San José Spotlight. “I’m just going to keep asking for money like a teenager.”
The Portuguese Organization for Social Services and Opportunities relies on fundraising for its extra meals as a program in one of the poorest parts of San Jose.
Executive Director Elsa Oliveira said the county funds 122 dine-in and 77 delivered meals a day, but the nonprofit often sees 130 people eating in its facilities and delivers extra meals.
“They’re elderly, and so it’s just a really precarious situation,” Oliveira told San José Spotlight. “A lot of them are very housing insecure. You have multiple stressors combined with a low income, so it just exacerbates that need.”
The organization is set to receive $26,000 in county reimbursements for some of its overserved meals. Oliveira said it will likely have to pay for about 1,200 extra meals — food that helps residents such as Dolores Perales.
“This really helps me a lot because I couldn’t afford it if I had to go to the store and buy it,” Perales told San José Spotlight. “It’s so expensive. I just love coming here and eating.”
Amy and George Hsu have been regulars of the Sunnyvale program for a year, with no plans to stop. They’ve benefited from the food and the many friends they’ve made.
“For the senior people, we are kind of isolated,” Amy Hsu told San José Spotlight. “Over here, we go out and we chat with the people — makes me happy.”
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X.
