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Halal Meals on Wheels Offered in Parts of Wayne County
Mariam Wehbe lives alone and can no longer stand on her feet to prepare her meals. A devout Muslim, she needs to eat dishes that meet religious requirements, but her options are limited.
That’s why Wehbe, 70, is glad to be part of Michigan’s first halal Meals on Wheels program. The program, which is also believed to be the first in the nation, provides meals made with meat butchered using a process outlined in the Quran, the religious text of Islam.
The pilot program serves about 20 seniors and was launched last month in Dearborn, one of the largest Muslim communities in the U.S., but it is available to southern and western Wayne County residents who qualify.
“I don’t have anybody here, but I am getting help,” said Wehbe, who migrated from Lebanon 17 years ago with her husband and daughter, both of whom have since died.
Amne Darwish Talab of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services said there has been a need for this type of service for a long time.
“There are a lot of people who don’t have the same living conditions as they did before this economic crisis,” said Talab, ACCESS’s social services director. “A lot of seniors have no family or no kids or their kids are in another state.”
ACCESS launched a program to feed seniors in a community setting a few years ago, but funding ran out. Talab worked to launch the program for shut-ins with the Senior Alliance, Area Agency on Aging 1C in Wayne, which runs a $3 million program that feeds seniors in 34 communities throughout western and southern Wayne County.
But unlike traditional Meals on Wheels, the halal meals are not delivered by volunteers. Food is provided by Midamar, a national halal food distributor based in Iowa. Meals are then assembled by Mom’s Meals, another Iowa company that mails meals to seniors in rural areas and other hard-to-reach places.
Mom’s Meals ships a two-week supply of halal meals in coolers to qualifying seniors via FedEx. The meals, which cost about $7 to prepare and ship, include entrees such as chicken biryani, lentil stew with ground lamb and Italian chicken.
The program is small but organizers expect it to grow.
The Area Agency on Aging has contracted with Mom’s Meals for three years, renewable at the end of each year based on performance, for $100,000 annually. The program was funded with federal dollars for programs for older Americans funneled through the state, said Bob Brown, executive director for the Senior Alliance.
Providing nourishment for the elderly is critical to avoid more costly care in hospitals and nursing homes, Brown said. That’s why he is pleased to be expanding the program to meet those with halal needs.
Kim Kozlowski
The Detroit News