Dear Source,
I read with amazement a letter written by Mr. Scott Frank accusing me of spending $350,000 of taxpayers' money to purchase vehicles for the staff to "drive around in" while seniors go without nutritious food. This is an absolute misconception.
The Department of Human Services provides a variety of programs for senior citizens on all three islands, which include transportation services. Let me set the record straight with factual information:
1. The Department operates a nutrition program for the elderly under a contractual agreement with two catering companies in the amount of $780,000annually.
2. Home delivered meals are provided for 431 frail elderly individuals who are homebound. Specially designed vehicles are needed to transport food for these persons many of whom reside in the hills of St. Thomas and St. John and the isolated areas of St. Croix. There are 30 seniors on a waiting list for home delivered meals not because there is insufficient food but because we do not have adequate vehicles to get the meals to them.
3. Congregate meals (hot lunches) are provided for 576 participants in the senior centers on all three islands. Buses and special equipped vehicles transport these senior participants from their homes to the eleven centers and back to their homes five days a week.
4. The Queen Louise and Herbert Grigg Homes for the Aged provide 24-hour custodial care for seniors who are unable to care for their personal needs. These Homes are managed and operated by the Department of Human Services and the meals for the 97 residents are prepared in these Homes.
5. The Lucinda Millin and Whim Garden Homes are public housing facilities operated by the Virgin Islands Housing Authority with support services from the Department of Human Services. Both facilities have kitchens, which were fully operational until they were closed more than 10 years ago because it was determined by the management at that time that the kitchens were too costly to operate. It was decided that their needs would be served adequately through the Congregate Meal Program and the kitchens of Queen Louise and Herbert Grigg Homes.
6. Since the main problem with the Lucinda Millin Home residents has to do with the quality of the meals provided, the Department will address this issue with the catering company. I will personally arrange a meeting with a representative from the Company, residents of the Lucinda Millin Home and a competent, registered/certified Nutritionist to resolve this matter quickly.
7. The Homemaker Program is an important prevention program for elderly residents who are semi-independent, need assistance but wish to remain in their own homes. Homemakers are transported daily to the homes of seniors to provide light housekeeping chores and personal care services.
8. Many of the vehicles used to transport seniors, homemakers and meals are six to nine years old and have been repaired and patched to a point where they are no longer safe.
If my priorities are not in order and I need to use the $350,000 to open the kitchens at Lucinda and Whim, perhaps there is some innovative way to deliver 79,849 meals annually to homebound elderly persons, transport elderly persons five days a week to senior centers and homemakers daily to seniors' homes without adequate vehicles.
I agree with you, Mr. Scott Frank. If a commissioner is not acting in the best interest of the people of the Virgin Islands, the Governor should remove him/her from office.
Sedonie H. Halbert
DHS Commissioner
