ATLANTA — David Harris says he was a good cook before arthritis, a bad heart and other health problems made it hard for him to make his own meals.
Now, the 64-year-old Army veteran gets two meals delivered to his Southwest Atlanta home every other day. On a recent Friday, he got two frozen plates with honey mustard fish, cabbage and okra in one and Caribbean barbecue chicken, green peas, sweet potato casserole and a mixed fruit cup in the other. Both were low-salt meals because of his kidney failure.
“I don’t want to get to the point where somebody has to wash me or feed me,” Harris said. “There’s nothing like taking care of yourself. That’s all I know. I don’t want to be a burden on anyone.”
More than 138,000 meals are delivered to people like Harris each year through the Georgia Department of Human Services. This year, seniors are worried about possible budget cuts to the department that could affect thousands of elderly Georgians who depend on such programs to maintain their independence.
Federal stimulus money helped soften the blow to the meal delivery program last year, but those funds aren’t available for the upcoming fiscal year 2012 budget. Advocates are hopeful lawmakers see fit to restore the more than $1 million needed through state funds.