Meals on Wheels

A nutritious diet is the foundation of a healthy lifestyle, but that’s not always easy for homebound seniors. Meals on Wheels can bring that nutrition right to your door, regardless of your economic status. 

Service is available to homebound individuals who are 60 years of age or older; who – due to illness or disability – are unable to purchase food or cook meals for themselves; and who do not have someone to purchase food or cook meals for them on a consistent basis.  

Our two daily meals are well-balanced and meet two-thirds of the daily nutritional requirements for seniors. While the meals are not specially designed for persons with diabetes or high blood pressure, they are low in sodium and sugar content. 

Who We Serve

If you do not meet all of the qualifications for the Meals on Wheels program, we will connect you to other resources.  

To be eligible for Sourcewise Meals on Wheels, you must meet the following criteria: 

• Be 60 years of age or older 
• Be a resident of Santa Clara County
• Live alone or lives with a spouse who is also homebound 
• Unable to perform two or more activities of daily living or due to a cognitive or other mental impairment, requires human assistance or supervision
• Unable to drive, purchase and prepare his/her own meals due to physical or cognitive disabilities 
• Does not have anyone available to consistently shop or prepare meals, including an In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) care provider who provides meal preparation

Homebound is defined as being:

• Bed-bound and non-ambulatory 
• Wheelchair-bound and living alone 
• Ambulatory, living alone, and unable to leave your home without assistance 
• Alone, able to leave home but has difficulty

Not sure where to begin? Contact our Community Resource Specialists of Sourcewise at (408) 350-3200, option 1. 

Let’s Get Started

Start by speaking with a Sourcewise Meals on Wheels Nutrition Coordinator to complete the initial intake process over the phone in a very simple, confidential format. Within 24-48 hours of the initial intake process, our Sourcewise Nutrition Coordinator can assist you with getting nutrition meals delivered to your door as soon as 5-7 days. 

Our program is based on a daily, healthy breakfast, and dinner menu. Each meal includes a protein, vegetable, starch, milk, juice, and either fruit or dessert.  

Lunch/dinner meals arrive frozen so they can be microwaved and enjoyed at the recipient’s convenience.  

Over the course of a year, the menu meals will range from casseroles to sandwiches and yogurt; and from fish to turkey and gravy. We serve special meals for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and St. Patrick’s Day. 

Menus are altered four times per year to compliment the seasons. Sourcewise will loan a Meals on Wheels participant a microwave if they do not have one available. 

Weekly deliveries include seven lunch/dinner meals, plus seven breakfast meals (featuring waffles, hot and cold cereals, and other breakfast entrees). The delivery also includes 1% milk, fresh fruit, bread, and either apple or orange juice. Lunch/dinner meals arrive frozen so they can be microwaved and enjoyed at the recipient’s convenience. Sourcewise will loan a Meals on Wheels participant a microwave if they do not have one available. 

Our program is based on a daily, healthy breakfast, and dinner menu. Over the course of a year, the menu meals will range from casseroles to sandwiches and yogurt; and from fish to turkey and gravy. We serve special meals for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and St. Patrick’s Day. Each meal includes a protein, vegetable, starch, milk, juice, and either fruit or dessert.   

Weekly Meal Deliveries & Scheduling

Home-delivered meals are delivered once per week on the same day between the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Your meals are delivered by route, which is determined by your address, and cannot be altered. In the event of your delivery day coincides with a national holiday, you will be notified of the rescheduled day in advance. You must be available to receive your meals. Drivers will not be able to leave your food outside, as it is against policy. 

If you are unable to be at home when your delivery is scheduled, you may call and arrange to have your meals delivered to a next-door neighbor or have someone receive and sign for your meals. A 48 hour notice is required for any cancellations or holds for that week. If you are not going to be available for an extended period (hospital, vacation, etc.), you may call and place a hold on the delivery for that time-period. If cancellations or holds exceed three continuous weeks, service will be cancelled and reactivated when client is able to receive delivery regularly again.

We cannot risk our clients’ health by leaving uneaten, unrefrigerated food for an unknown period. If you let us know in advance, we will leave your meals with a neighbor, but this is an exception and we will work with you to develop the best plan to handle rare exceptions. 

How We Serve You

Sourcewise is a private, nonprofit agency, and your contributions and donations are greatly appreciated. We encourage a daily contribution of $1.80 per day ($0.90 per meal) or $54 per month. These contributions allow us to serve as many seniors as possible, however, we will never deny meals to someone that is unable to contribute all or a portion of the encouraged contribution.

Each month, the meal delivery driver will provide the Meals on Wheels participant with two pre-addressed, stamped blue envelopes. Do not pay with cash – please send a check or money order payable to ‘Meals on  Wheels’ and mail any contribution you can afford in the envelope. Do not give cash or this envelope to the meal delivery driver. 

For more information about the Sourcewise Meals on Wheels program and available meal programs in Santa Clara County, speak with a Community Resource Specialist at (408) 350 – 3200, option 1.

Nutritious Meals & Education

Our meals are well–balanced, and each meal meets two-thirds of the daily nutritional requirements for seniors. While they are not specially designed for persons with diabetes or high-blood pressure, our meals are low in sodium and sugar content. 

Our Meals on Wheels program is based on a healthy menu of breakfast and lunch, seven days a week. The weekly delivery includes seven lunch/dinner meals plus seven breakfast meals featuring waffles, hot and cold cereals, and other breakfast entrees. A week’s supply of 1% milk, fresh fruit, bread, and apple or orange juice is also provided.  

The meals have a range of options over the course of the year. Each meal includes a protein, a vegetable, a starch, milk, juice, and fruit or dessert. Click  here  to see a sample menu.  

We have a fixed menu for each day, and we are unable to accommodate dietary preferences or restrictions. However, we do have prepared menus showing ingredients (including sodium and sugar content), that you and your medical doctor can review, before agreeing to enroll in the home-delivered meals program.  

Healthy Eating Tips

Foods that Reduce Inflammation

What you eat can affect your health in many ways. We are finding that our diet can help fight against inflammation in the body. Inflammation can trigger chronic diseases such as arthritis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, certain cancers and even Alzheimer’s disease. Being overweight also promotes inflammation, so losing weight can significantly improve health and reduce the risk of chronic illness. 

The Mediterranean Diet is probably the best example of a diet that can reduce inflammation. This diet includes plenty of whole fruits and vegetables; good sources of omega-3 fatty acids such as fish or flax seed and nuts. It also includes few refined carbohydrates like white bread, pasta and white rice, and emphasizes whole grains such as brown rice, barley, oats and bulgur wheat as well as limited sugar, sweets, and other processed foods.   

Soy foods, like tofu or edamame, can be great sources of protein that promote health. Yogurt and other probiotic foods provide additional benefits to an otherwise healthy diet. Foods high in antioxidants and phytochemicals (natural chemicals found in the plant foods) are also believed to help reduce inflammation. Green tea, red wine, dark chocolate (or natural cocoa) have high-quality antioxidants that may offer benefits. Other tasty additions to a healthy diet that reduce inflammation include garlic, ginger, cinnamon, and hot spicy seasonings.