TRI-COUNTY — The City of Marfa is stepping up to fill a funding gap for the nutrition center caused by federal assistance funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) running dry.
The Marfa Nutrition Center is run by the city out of the Marfa Activities Center. The center serves meals to qualifying seniors in the community, currently 105 total clients, 77 who receive home delivery through Meals on Wheels and 28 who receive meals in person.
The nutrition center is funded by the city in addition to the Rio Grande Area Agency on Aging, a division of the Rio Grande Council of Governments (RIOCOG), which essentially pays the nutrition center for the meals it distributes.
Recently, ARPA funds — pandemic era relief funds handed down from the federal government — awarded to the RIOCOG, roughly $1,300,000 in 2021-2022, have run out after being spread across multiple years’ budgets.
The funding shortfall has led to a freeze on new clients being added to RIOCOG-supported senior programs, including meal programs, in-home provider services and transportation services, commonly referred to as TRAX. Before, new clients could be added on from waitlists when space became available.
“At this point — now the waiting list, or interest list, that has been started is just that — because I don’t want to ever cut people off of the program,” said Yvette Lugo, director for the Rio Grande Area Agency on Aging. “The only way to reasonably operate … is to sustain those that are already participating in the program and not cut them off.”
Marfa Mayor Manny Baeza, who sits on the RIOCOG Board of Directors, recently heard Lugo’s appeal to local government officials to help cover the costs of new clients if possible. Baeza brought the matter to city council members last week.
Marfa Nutrition Center Director Mark Rodriguez told council members there are currently around 15 to 16 people on Marfa’s waiting list. Baeza said it will cost the city around $10,000 to make up for the loss of federal funds this year to bring those individuals off of the waiting list, something he advocated for considering the important role of the center in the lives of local seniors.
“We can always make budget amendments. I just wish I would have had this information prior to the budget,” Baeza said. “We can cover these costs, I don’t want anyone to go hungry.”
“The clients are happy,” he added. “And those that are homebound, this might be their only contact they have during the day.”
Rodriguez, who used to operate beloved local Tex-Mex restaurant Mando’s, agreed the services the nutrition center provides go beyond a hot meal, including wellness checks and valuable interactions with the community. In addition to regular nutrition center clients, Rodriguez and his staff also serve walk-ins. He joked that the room is always full on days they make brisket.
Council members agreed to fund the $10,000 cost of adding all of the waitlist clients to the program and unanimously approved the budget amendment.
Other local nutrition centers impacted include the Sunshine House in Alpine and the Presidio County Nutrition Center.
It is not yet clear what the future of assistance for these programs will look like long term, Lugo said. The RIOCOG is exploring the possibility of creating a nonprofit to support the organization’s needs that would be able to fundraise and solicit donations. But it is also possible that the responsibility for keeping these programs afloat could fall on local governments that are housing them, she said, especially if federal support continues to stagnate as it has recently.
“We’re gonna have to start looking locally,” Lugo said. “I feel like it’s the wave of the future, unless there’s additional dollars that are allocated. Obviously that all depends on the administration that’s in place, whether social service programs for older adults are an important piece of the national budget.”