The Constancy of Change
Over the coming months Mama’s Kitchen will be exploring, implementing, and evaluating change. Some of the things in our hopper:
- On July 1, 2017, for one year, we will be piloting an expansion of our age limit for clients with cancer – from age 60 to age 65. This is a conservative and methodical way of increasing the scope of people receiving our services.
- The board of directors is currently considering the expansion of our overall mission: from serving people with cancer to serving people with critical illnesses. The intent here is to create increased capacity for service to other vulnerable populations while reaffirming our continued commitment to people with AIDS and cancer. We held four forums for input from our stakeholders and the support for expansion has been solid. Should you like to weigh in with your input, please do not hesitate to call or email me.
- We are currently working with sister organizations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sonoma County, to obtain state-level funding for a pilot project that demonstrates how a consistent source of medically tailored meals can reduce the cost of providing healthcare to people on MediCal who live with the challenges of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
Critical to any efforts to serve more San Diego County residents struggling with illness is growing our capacity to meet these increased needs. To that end we are looking at our infrastructure. Things like our client software system, our staffing structure, and training needs.
Mama’s Day provides a very concrete way to support our evolving continuum of nutrition services – from our home-delivered meal service to our pantry, and our nutrition education services. Come celebrate and support our mission on May 12. It promises to be an amazing culinary experience and your support will be as critical as ever.
Alberto Cortés, Executive Director