City defends takeover of senior meal program They say delivery is better; new vendors will bid
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Before that, a non-profit organization called Let's Celebrate had run it since 1997. The $1 million program provides for meal delivery to over 900 senior citizens at individual homes and congregant sites.
The city said they pulled the contract with Let's Celebrate in response to health violations cited in two state reports in July. The city assumed control of the program for a 90-day emergency period, after which prospective vendors will bid to take over.
But Let's Celebrate Executive Director Lester Lewis-Powder has criticized Health and Human Services for maneuvering for the city to take over the program. He said his organization was doing a fine job.
The city's Health and Human Services officials - HHS Director Sergio Lamboy, HHS Deputy Director Harry Melendez, and Larry Eccleston, executive director for the HHS Office on Aging - said the timing was related to the expiration of Let's Celebrate's contract and that the program needed improvements regardless of the health report.How the program is run now
HHS officials said that under their leadership, the program has received great reviews from the senior citizens they serve.
The delivery of the meals is being done Monday through Friday in city vehicles. The majority of the meals are frozen and delivered once a day, rather than being delivered hot several times a day.
Recipients receive five meals at a time for weekday service, so that a vehicle can do a dropoff every 1.5 days if necessary. Those who qualify for weekend only service receive three meals on Friday to eat Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
There are also hot meals prepared by two catering outfits -Andy's Catering on Ocean Avenue and Renato's on Central Avenue - that are delivered to seven sites where seniors gather several times a week for activities.
HHS officials said they surveyed the seniors who are receiving the meals and most of the 250-plus survey participants were pleased with the delivery.
There was only one problem that came up. According to Sergio Lamboy, a caterer, located in the Heights section of the city, had been contracted to prepare meals for the Villa Borinquen Senior Citizens Center in Downtown Jersey City, but was shut down when the company's owner admitted he was preparing the meals in his apartment, which is a violation of state and city health codes. The future
The Senior Nutrition Program will undergo another transformation by the end of November. The HHS said that's when a new vendor will be contracted to prepare the meals and another vendor will do the delivery, unless they can find vendors to do both.
The bids for new vendors are to be sent out by the end of the month. The HHS also said that Let's Celebrate would still be considered as one of the vendors in the upcoming bidding because of the company's experience.
Lamboy said that the city was looking to change the direction of the Senior Nutrition Program anyway since the HHS is slated to relocate next year from its current address at 201 Cornelison Ave. into new offices. The current address is part of the old, presently vacant location for the Jersey City Medical Center. Much of the center is owned by New York-based development firm Metrovest Equities and will be developed into condominiums starting at the end of this year.
Lamboy said the new location for HHS will probably not have a kitchen to prepare meals like the one at Cornelison Avenue that Let's Celebrate used. The city would have to find a new vendor who has a facility to prepare the meals.
Also helping the HHS in this takeover was a resolution passed at a July 13 City Council meeting to extend Let's Celebrate's contract until Dec. 31. A clause placed in the resolution endowed the city with the right to cancel the agreement with or without cause, with only 24 hours' written notice.
A check of the agenda of that City Council meeting revealed that the resolution was introduced and approved by the City Council. Let's Celebrates' take
Lewis-Powder is pessimistic about his organization's chance to provide meals in the future for senior citizens in Jersey City. But that has meant that he had to suddenly lay off staff.
"I have not spoken to anyone in the mayor's office, and I don't expect to have that opportunity," he said. "The city has made a decision; wrong or right they are sticking to it until the 60- or 90-day bidding. I'm not optimistic."
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