Miami-Dade senior centers closing Monday for COVID-19, and home meals are on the way

Miami-Dade is preparing countywide delivery of meals Monday as it shuts down daytime activity centers for seniors and the vital cafeterias that the facilities operate.

After declaring an emergency for the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday, Mayor Carlos Gimenez ordered an indefinite closing of the centers starting Monday. Nursing homes and adult daycare centers remain open. Senior centers are facilities where able-bodied seniors come for food, companionship and activities.

With COVID-19 most deadly to older Americans, the county sees the daytime centers as risky gathering spots for vulnerable residents. But closing them removes a reliable source of meals for participants. The county and the centers themselves are gearing up for the kind of home-meal service that’s only been used on a large scale for hurricanes. This time, the deliveries could last far longer than it takes for centers to recover after a storm.

“We haven’t really had a situation where we’ve had to send them home for extended periods of time,” said Betty Ruano-Bond, director of operations for the Little Havana Activities and Nutrition Centers network. “Never for more than five days.”

Ruano-Bond said Little Havana sent residents home Friday with enough canned goods and shelf-stable food to last five days, matching what would be available if the centers were open next week. After that, Little Havana plans home delivery of frozen meals to last seven days for about 2,000 people. She said that “will continue every week thereafter until we are allowed to reopen.”

Gimenez communications director Myriam Marquez said the county expects to deliver meals to more than 10,000 seniors, plus another 100 facilities. There was no immediate estimate on how much Miami-Dade plans to spend. “We are unable to determine costs at this time,” Marquez said. “The priority is taking care of the most vulnerable.”

DeliverLean already has a healthcare division that delivers meals to people who require home nutrition as part of their post-hospitalization plans. Now it has a temporary county contract for seniors from the centers, and CEO Scott Harris said he expects to deliver more than 9,000 meals a day.

“We’re vacuum-sealing meals,” Harris said. “The food has a 14-day shelf life.”

DeliverLean also sells prepared meals across South Florida, including grab-and-go options at hotels, airports and the Miami Beach Convention Center. The last several weeks saw sales take a steep dive, making the contract for the senior-center clients a welcome boost.

“The airport business is going down drastically,” said Harris. “We’ve had all of our conventions canceled.”

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