MEALS ON WHEELS
Meals on Wheels is a meal delivery service to people who are homebound and have difficulty preparing their own meals. Currently, there are Meals on Wheels programs in each neighborhood and community of the Twin Cities. Each program is an independent non-profit organization with its own board of directors, supporters and constituencies. Each program provides a nutritious noon time meal to clients Monday through Friday. Most programs rely heavily on the support they receive from their volunteers and community to provide this service, with very few paid staff persons running the programs.
Meals on Wheels, through their volunteer delivery drivers, provide a daily wellness check, playing a vital role in the healthcare continuum. Allowing persons to remain in their own homes not only helps clients maintain their dignity and sense of self-reliance, but it is a remarkable cost-savings compared to other care options.
METRO MEALS ON WHEELS, INC.
Metro Meals on Wheels (MMOW) is the central coordinating organization for the neighborhood-based programs throughout the Twin Cities 7 county area. MMOW was founded in 1997 by forty-one Meals on Wheels programs in the metro area. Since then, we have provided essential services to these programs such as volunteer recruitment, technical assistance, a communication hub, public awareness and outreach, and financial assistance. By providing these, Metro Meals on Wheels saves each program time, money and allows them to reach the Twin Cities community as a whole, banding together to work towards the same goal.
Why We Need a New Website
We are the face of Meals on Wheels on the internet for the entire 7 county metro area because most of our program members do not even have websites. We are the only way for caseworkers, clients, prospective volunteers, clients' family members, the media, current and possible sponsors/donors to learn about the 7 county Meals on Wheels network, the program that serves their local area, and to receive contact information for both.
Through obtaining a more efficient and user friendly website, we will better represent our members as well as increase our ability to serve them. If the Metro Meals on Wheels website could be improved, more people would frequent it and each visitor would gain more knowledge and appreciation for the meaningful service Meals on Wheels programs provide, which would result in more volunteers, sponsors and community support.
The number of clients for each of our 40 programs is growing everyday because of the aging baby-boomers generation, decreasing government aid, and longer life expectancy. To succeed in fulfilling our mission we must constantly become more efficient, reach more of our community and provide more services. As our main component in communication, an improved website is vital in achieving these goals.
When the judges choose which non-profits will be selected to participate in this year's F1 Challenge they will take into account testimonials from beneficiaries, donors, volunteers, board members and other
The Metro Meals on Wheels organization is extremely valuable to the Meals on Wheels service providers in the seven-county Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Their website has dual purposes.
They are our front door, our reception desk, our friendly greeter to the general public and professionals. Hospital discharge planners, county case workers, family members of potential clients, and interested individuals can contact MMOW through their website to learn about Meals on Wheels service and which Meals on Wheels program to contact for service to any specific address or neighborhood. Corporations, churches, civic organizations, and interested volunteers can contact them to learn about volunteer needs/opportunities and be linked with a neighborhood-based MOW program that needs their help. Through Metro MOW, donors can support Meals on Wheels in the entire seven-county area or a local neighborhood.
As a member organization, Metro MOW provides ongoing assistance to our community-based MOW programs. They develop public awareness, fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and administrative materials that we can all use so every program doesn’t have to create our own versions of the same thing. They assist by being the intake point for volunteers. They raise needed funds to support our efforts. They get involvement from the broader community on a larger scale than we can do individually. They organize special campaigns, such as obtaining and distributing shelf-stable emergency meals for our clients; outreach and publicity; volunteer recruitment and fundraising events; educating and involving political leaders, legislators, and VIPs.
The Metro MOW website needs to be multi-purpose and easy to maneuver through for the general public. It needs to be an easy-to-use tool for MOW service providers. Metro MOW staff are talented, capable, and dedicated. They accomplish a great deal with few staff and a very streamlined budget. Funding limitations do not allow for hiring professional web designers to make their website the best it can be. This Sierra Bravo overnight website project would be enormously helpful and benefit neighborhood Meals on Wheels programs, the general public, potential MOW recipients, and volunteers throughout the seven county area and beyond.
Susan Adrian, Senior Services Consortium of Ramsey County, member organization of Metro MOW
As a Board member of the Anoka-Champlin Meals on Wheels, a member organization of Metro, and also working for a non-profit. The importance of a website is huge asset to bring the organization forward to the next generation. The general public that will have access to this website will be a great benefit to us because we can reach out to families of current and future clients of the services.
For the volunteers that help with our Special Events and assist us with the delivery of meals it would be a great opporunity to get them involved with what is going on metro-wide besides just at their member organization.
It would be an extremely huge benefit to have the site professionally remodeled and the usability increased. Having a streamlined and professional website design would be great for both MMoW and those of us in the membership.
I strongly agree with what Susan from Ramsey County has published too.
Nicole DeYoung, Board Vice-Chair of Anoka-Champlin MoW, member organization of Metro MoW
Metro Meals on Wheels (MMoW) is an incredibly important part of the Twin Cities Meals on Wheels network. With so many member programs with small staff and budget resources, it's helpful when functions like the website can be undertaken by MMoW to represent all programs.
There are so many groups that look to MMoW's site, people needing meals, their friends, family, social workers, and clergy looking for the correct program in their area. Funders and prospective volunteers use it as well, all of these groups are vital to the ground level service providers and an easily navigable, simply maintainable site would be wonderful. Usability is essential, consider that many people who use this service, not only in the Twin Cities but family and friends looking for services from out-of-state, are looking for quick answers.
Speaking as the Vice-Chair of the MMoW Board, the benefit to the organization would be immense, especially considering the increasing workload and limited staff time available. Speaking as the Executive Director of a MMoW member program, this is an exciting way to increase the visibility, knowledge, and support for Meals on Wheels in the Twin Cities without straining the MMoW staff and their focus on helping programs.
Elisabeth Shanley, Vice-Chair, MMoW Board; Executive Director, Anoka - Champlin Meals on Wheels, a MMoW Member program
Helping Metro Meals on Wheels improve their website to gain a more user friendly and navigable site is like helping 40 organizations! Metro Meals on Wheels is the face of 40 different community-based Meals on Wheels programs. It is how the public learns how to volunteer, gain assistance and contribute to these neighborhood organizations. The community groups rely on Metro Meals on Wheels to be their communicator to volunteers, corporations and contributors and it eliminates the overhead of having 40 different groups try to support communications on their own. With a central group coordinating messaging, our 40 member groups can focus on what they do best: delivering healthy meals to people who are homebound. Serving Metro Meals on Wheels enables the overarching goals of helping communities stay whole, keeping people in their homes and self-reliant in times of need and providing home bound people with consistent attention and security. As an option for the website services being offered, Metro Meals on Wheels offers an outstanding example of an efficient guardianship of fiscal responsibility and community values that makes the Metropolitan Minneapolis area a wonderful place to live. It is an organization that could some day serve any one of us.
Flora Delaney, member: MMoW Outreach Committee
As we see more and more people in our community move into their senior years, the need for hot, nutritious meals served to each individuals home will continue to increase. Meals on Wheels provides these meals for numerous senior citizens throughout the metro area. Meals on Wheels also provides meals for many vulnerable adults. However, Meals on Wheels is not just about a meal, it is also about a daily “check-in” with that homebound individual to make sure that everything is okay. Meals on Wheels is not just concerned with the feeding of people, we are concerned about the total well-being of people.
The need for an updated web site is evident as the internet is the primary resource for information for many in society today. Metro Meals on Wheels web site is the conduit for anyone looking for services for their parents or another person they care about. With a highly functional web site, Metro Meals on Wheels will be able to more efficient help someone find the right resource for their community.
Steve Griffiths, Board Chair Anoka Champlin Meals on Wheels, member orgainzation of MMoW
In today’s age we can’t afford to not have a viable working website that consists of easy navigation, includes easy to read information about the organizations and their services and allows people to communication with the Meals on Wheels conveniently.
Within the last year, I have started to work with the organization and I was amazed by the staff and volunteers, the services provided and the people they assist. It is essential to have organizations like this to show common good among all. My work with MOW last year as inspired me to get more involved so I become a committee member of the outreach committee were I will assist with communication and events. This is why the website is so important to me. Living in a busy world and having a user friendly website will make our job go smoothly for all areas of MOW.
We truly hope you pick our organization because you will be helping to make a difference in many peoples lives.
Amanda Schultz - Outreach Committee Member
Metro Meals on Wheels is a major link between the Twin Cities communities and the community-based Meals on Wheels Programs in the metro area. With websites being used more and more by consumers of services and their families, volunteers, donors and other interested individuals it is important that the Metro Meals on Wheels website be as user friendly, informative, up-to-the-date and appealing as possible. Meals on Wheels is a vital service for elderly and disabled individuals who choose to stay in their own home. In order to make sure that this service is utilized by those who need it, an easy to access website that is informative is important to consumers and family members. In order to make sure that this service is available to those who need it, volunteers and donors need to be able to access the website and once on the website need to be able to complete the necessary paperwork to volunteer and/or donate. The current website has met some of the needs but has its limitation. A new and improved website will help Metro Meals on Wheels and the local Meals on Wheels programs get their message out to potential consumers, families, volunteers and donors in a more effective way. Please consider our request and know that you will be helping meet the need of an ever growing population.
Barbara Green, Metro Meals on Wheels Board Member; Coordinator - White Bear Area Senior Program
Metro Meals on Wheels provides a voice, presence and support for programs in a very wide and diverse geographic area. The innovation and inspiration comes from the community members who feel their commitment and contribution are genuinely and authentically valued by all. HSI's experience as a member of Metro has been invaluable. We have been on the receiving end of many of the great initiatives and with major return on our time and energy we've invested. As a program we continue to grow and learn through the expertise and time of other members. We also have found the opportunity to share our expertise and have found a place where it is valued and shared. To this degree we would have to say Metro Meals on Wheels has been a collaborative success story and is greatly deserving of the Sierra Bravo F1 Overnight Website Challenge. The time, resources and energies would be well worth the investment for not only the members of metro but also the thousands of people we collectively serve. Thank you for the time and consideration given to such a phenomenal organization!
Roxanne Emerson, Director of Resources for Eldercare - Human Services Inc., Serving Washington County, Member organization
Metro Meals on Wheels is an established partner of 40 local Meals on Wheels programs that collaborate and work on how partnering together can strengthen each program, strengthen the programs together, and therefore strengthen the community. It has been through a respectful, professional, understanding, and a viewed and understood mission from both staff and member programs that this collaboration has been so successful in the continued work done in the metro communities. There have been many questions from current funders in how we are collaborating in our communities to be stronger, and Metro Meals on Wheels has been one of our most respectful and beneficial partnerships with the H.S.I. Meals on Wheels program serving Washington County. In our relationship with Metro, we have received grant money that has afforded our program to purchase meal containers to keep the temperatures of the meals consistent, we have received countless volunteers from all of their major marketing efforts, we have gained important local contacts, and now the Blizzard Bag Blitz! On October 30th and 31st of 2007, Metro Meals on Wheels brought together more than 26 Meals on Wheels programs to put together shelf stable meals to give to Meals on Wheels clients. These meals are to help the clients out on service days that volunteers are not able to reach them; blizzard days in Minnesota, generator problems that shut down a kitchen, etc. Metro Meals on Wheels is the starting point for many local and out of state clients, families, caregivers, case managers, donors, and interested parties to be able to connect with the correct Meals on Wheels program. Without Metro Meals on Wheels being a voice and a main point of contact, we would suffer the loss of many of the previously listed people trying to connect with Meals on Wheels. Please consider Metro Meals on Wheels for the Sierra Bravo F1 Overnight Website Challenge sponsored by VISI. This would benefit thousands of families and community members of all of the current 40 member services, and potential clients and families looking to connect with the Meals on Wheels program.
Erica Sandstrom - Nutrition Services Supervisor for Human Services Inc. serving Washington County - Board Chair of Metro Meals on Wheels - Board Secretary for Metro Meals on Wheels - Co-Chair of the Member Services Committee for Metro Meals on Wheels
Metro Meals on Wheels is an incredibly important program to the community. I have been very lucky to work with the organization and their people the past year. As a member of Leadership St. Paul a group of volunteers worked on analyzing the communication and recruitment strategies for the continuing success of the program. We were able to help make a number of recommendations and the most important was implementation of a new website. The hope was to increase communication of the program, recruitment of volunteers as well as providing a usable tool for those most in need in the community. The only limiting factor to progressing with those objectives was the lack of resources, creativity, technical skills and knowledge of new web technologies. I am sure you can read all the fantastic testimonials about the program and the lives it touches in the community; what you may not see is the dedication, eagerness, organization that the program staff has for their mission. If you chose Metro Meals on Wheels you would have an immediate impact on the community and those most in need.
Louis Suarez - Metro Meals on Wheels Outreach Committee
So often we forget the comfort we find in a warm meal and a simple smile. As a community member I have seen how Metro Meals on Wheels provides nourishment for the homebound members in the community. It isn't simply just the food though-they also provide nourishment for the soul. Through a new web site, Metro Meals on Wheels will be able to enhance the impact they have on the homebound members of our community.
Elizabeth A. Sorensen, Community Member
Metro Meals on Wheels (MMOW) is an organization that is helping programs in the Mpls./St. Paul area provide warm, nutrititous meals and empowering seniors and those with disabilities to remain as independent as possible within their homes. In the past two years the capacity of MMOW has grown dramatically, especially in the fundraising and professional assistance areas. They have expanded staff and increased training and advocacy. They would be a wonderful organization to receive your professional assistance.
Board Member
The Metro Meals on Wheels website is the "go to" site for the community. The Metro Meals on Wheels site is usually the first website people use when they are looking for the local program to serve grandma or grandpa. Easy navigation is key to website satisfaction. As Metro Meals on Wheels expands services it truly needs a state of the art website to reflect the high quality of service and upper level of professionalism that Metro and all the local programs have achieved.
Eileen Hafften Executive Director, Northeast Dinner Bell, Inc. Serving Northeast Minneapolis and St Anthony Village. Program member of Metro Meals on Wheels since 1997
I can't tell you how important it is to have a central place for everyone to go and find local Meals on Wheels programs. I get several calls each week from people (social workers; family and clients) outside our service area just trying to find the right source for Meals on Wheels. Some of them say it has taken days to find the right one. It would be very helpful if you could just put in an address and it led you to the right Meals on Wheels program and telephone number.
Thank you for considering this.
Karen Leverentz
Mounds View 621 Meals on Wheels
651-490-4770
Finding services for older loved ones is a daunting task. The people most likely to be using the MMOW website - middle-aged caregivers - are working full-time, raising children, and taking care of aging parents. Anything we can do to make our services more accessible and user-friendly for stressed out caregivers will be a gift.
Arielah Moskow, Senior Program Supervisor, Merrick Community Services, Member organization
Others will provide lots of data. For me, the huge value that you can provide to Metro Meals on Wheels stems from the nature of MMOW's role in the community. Without them last year, a million meals would either have not been eaten by those of limited resources and mobility, or those meals would have had to be provided in some other way, probably by institutionalizing the recipients. MMOW's volunteers allow people to remain in their homes, maintain their dignity and independence, and reduces the expense that would otherwise be incurred to provide one of the simple, basic necessities of life. To deliver this service, MMOW needs to enlist the aid of volunteers and organizations. Their web page is a key element in that process. Anything that you can do to help will help this sterling organization continue to serve a needy and deserving population in a supportive and respectful manner. Please help. Your thanks will come from those who depend on those million meals, as well as from those of us who already volunteer.
Bill Handschin, volunteer, member of the Outreach Committee of the Board
Our website is so vital to MMOW's success! Here are a few ways in which we would like to use it more effciently:
- We have a barely existent 'members only' site where our 40 programs can go for information specific to them. Right now it contains pictures of merchandise they can buy and a few links to other helpful websites. It should have information for their clients, a MMOW calendar, tons of resources that contain information on aging, geriatrics, nutrtion guidelines, training opportunities, a link to our member message board, with many other resources.
- We have a google map embedded in our website that is supposed to help caseworkers, clients, families' of clients, our staff, programs and the general public find the contact information for their local program, and although it could be a great resource it is not user friendly
- There are problems on our donation site with processing and gathering information of our online donors.
- There are PHP coded items that we do not have to know-how to change, and cannot afford to hire a consultant to fix, some of which include incorrect contact information
- We would like to have a calendar for the public to show upcoming events, projects, volunteer opportunities, etc.
- Our resources page just has a few links on it, and we would like to have one that has many documents, links and information sets created in a database and presented on the page to better help our community find all of the things they need to help their loved ones
- As we grow our corporate and faith based recruiting efforts, we need to be able to point them to a sophisticated volunteer recruitment page that has video, powerpoint presentations, pictures and well organized information
- We need to put up new pictures on our website, or have multiple ones rotate in each photo spot, they have not been changed for a long time.
- Our home page including our menu of options is not easy to navigate
- We would like to have a 'photo album' on the site so people can relate to the work that we do better
I am dedicated to making our website a better tool for our programs, clients, staff, community, caseworkers, our members and board, everyone. But we need your help and expertise to be able to suceed!
Thank you for your consideration
Staff & 'Accidental Techie'
Many have already submitted testimonials on the essential work that is being done by MMOW and its member organizations to benefit not only individuals but also the community as a whole.
Having a web site that is both functional and vibrant is a critical piece to the success of our organization. With limited resources, we have to be very judicious on how we expend those resources. We don’t have a sizable budget to market ourselves to those who may be in need of our members’ services or to those who support us either by donating their time or financial resources. Our web site may be the only communication link we have with many of the people we rely on. We would not only like but also truly need our web site to be all it can be.
Your help would go a long way in making that a reality. Thank you for your consideration.
Michael Phillips, Chair of the Board of Metro Meal on Wheels
Metro Meals on Wheels
1313 5th St. SE #327
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Our Mission
The mission of Metro Meals on Wheels is to assist our programs in developing quality local systems of delivery to homebound individuals.
Our purpose statement is, "partnering with over 40 neighborhood Meals on Wheels programs throughout the Twin Cities to ensure effective volunteer recruitment, marketing, fundraising, technical assistance, and educational/training services to all members."
Our services are a cost-effective way for the small, neighborhood Meals on Wheels programs to operate on a larger scale, since MMOW can cover the entire metropolitan area for volunteers, marketing, and fundraising. Each individual program simply does not have the financial or staff resources to carry out these essential services on their own.
Metro Meals on Wheels
