Senior centers in Valencia County offer variety of services

It’s been 59 years since U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Older Americans Act, the first federal level initiative aimed at providing comprehensive services for older adults.

Created out of concern about a lack of community social services for Americans 60 and older, the act helped create a national network of state and area agencies on aging, as well as local programs, including those like the Valencia County Older Americans Program.

The VCOAP’s most-used program is it’s meal service, which is accessed by seniors at five congregate meal sites throughout the county and home-delivered meals, both available for seniors 60 and older.

The county provides Older Americans Program services, including meals, at three locations — the Belen Senior Center, the Del Rio Senior Center in Rio Communities and the Meadow Lake Senior Center — and provides meals at the Fred Luna Multigenerational Center in Los Lunas and the Bosque Farms Community Center in the village of Bosque Farms.

Lunch is served from 12-12:30, Monday through Friday, except for Bosque Farms, which serves lunch from 12-1 p.m. every week day. (The center in Rio Communities is closed for renovations.)

The OAP meal program also provides home delivered meals to qualifying seniors Monday through Friday, and in some cases on weekends as well.

The central qualifying question for home-delivered meals is, “Are you physically unable to cook a meal for yourself?,” Maldonado said. Seniors are assessed for nutritional needs, if they have to follow a specific diet due to a medical condition, as well as details such as how many servings of fruits and vegetables they get in a day.

The assessment also asks whether a person is unable to leave their home due to physical or mental limitations, including health conditions that can put them at high risk if exposed to COVID. Income is not a factor in determining eligibility for home meal service, she said.

“You could live in the biggest house, have the best kitchen, but if you can’t cook a meal for yourself, that doesn’t matter,” Maldonado said. “For some of our seniors, this is the only warm meal they will get in a day. Nine times out of 10, they’re going to get approved because is they’re asking, they really need it.”

To find out if you qualify for home delivered meals, call the OAP office at 505-864-2663.

The program serves anywhere from 580 to 600 meals a day, about 50 percent of which are delivered to homes.

Maldonado has said Valencia County has “a lot of senior hunger.”

According to data from “Feeding America, The State of Hunger in America Report Series, 2020-21,” 12.5 percent of New Mexico adults 60 and older faced the threat of hunger in the past 12 months.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey, about 9,600 seniors 60 and older live in Valencia County, and 18.8 percent of the total population of 76,205 people are 65 and older. The 2023 American Community Survey indicates about 3,800 people 60 and older, 18.6 percent, live below the poverty level.

The VCOAP also provides older adults with opportunities for socialization, both spur-of-the-moment and through planned activities.

Monthly dances are held at the Belen center, and from 10 a.m. to noon, bingo is offered at the three centers run by the county on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. On Wednesdays at the Belen Center, the fun switches to cornhole.

The VCOAP also offers medical transportation for seniors to Albuquerque Monday through Thursday, and locally Monday through Friday. Seniors can call the OAP office at 505-864-2663 for more information and to schedule a transport for medical-related transportation, including pick up prescriptions and eye glasses.