Our Mission
Foster the independence and dignity of older adults by reducing food insecurity and isolation with daily nutritious meals, friendly visits, and connection to support services.
Reflecting on FY22-23
In FY 2022-2023, our internal focus at SOS Meals on Wheels was on taking the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and turning them into lasting, meaningful improvements in how we approach everything we do. While the cost of doing business and of producing and delivering meals continued to rise throughout the year, our team worked to develop efficiencies and savings wherever possible, while also implementing significant investments in the compensation and benefits provided to, and overall wellbeing of our staff. By the end of the Fiscal Year, we had completed our first organization Strategic Plan, and had entered negotiations to take over the Meals on Wheels program serving Fremont, Newark and Union City.
We are honored to serve homebound older adults in Oakland, Hayward, San Leandro, San Lorenzo and Castro Valley; with the support of our community, our funders and donors and the commitment of our incredible staff, we are ready to answer whatever call comes our way.
Charlie Deterline
Executive Director
Blake Spears
President, Board of DirectorsHow We Did
2,590
CLIENTS
SERVED
464,830
MEALS
SERVED
456,031
Wellness Checks
Provided
Grant-funded “second meals”
28,125
Grant-funded “packs”
5,625
packs of five meals provided to most food-insecure clients
Diabetic friendly snacks
32,144
provided to diabetic and pre-diabetic clients in Oakland, funded by City of Oakland SSB grant
Shelf-stable grocery bags distributed
1,876
in partnership with Mercy Brown Bag
packs of five meals provided to most food-insecure clients
+175
-23
42
-30
“Delivering meals is very rewarding. You end up feeling good after you do it. You meet a lot of different personalities and some very funny people, and you get to visit with people who like to have someone to talk to. It’s never boring.”
Frank, Volunteer
Who We Served
76
Average Age
103
Eldest Client
12
Clients Over the Age of 99
247
Veterans
Oakland
Service Area
5
Cities Served in the East Bay
79,744
Miles Driven by Volunteers
125,124
Miles Driven by Paid Drivers
204,868
Miles Driven
“The meals are nourishing, with all the things you need to stay healthy. And the chef is excellent―he could make tumbleweed taste like lobster!”
Rocky, Client
Meals & Nutrition
Our approach to menu development is to destigmatize beliefs about institutional cooking by creating a wide variety of modern, eye pleasing, meals using fresh ingredients. Four monthly changing menus, a regular, vegetarian, renal and mechanically soft/purée were served this year. Developed by our Registered Dietician Nutritionist (RDN), all meals meet one third of recommended daily dietary allowances and the minimum guidelines for low-sodium, diabetic diets. They are also low in fat and cholesterol.
IN THE KITCHEN
Head Chef Eric Gremillion
With the new fiscal year kicking in, our kitchen is buzzing with excitement for all the amazing updates ahead: more menu development, introducing more diverse recipes, getting fully staffed, and soup is back on the menu! These are just some of the fantastic achievements from FY22-23 that we are building on. In April, we introduced new software that has enabled our team to try new creative recipes and expand the cooking experience of many of our staff.
Head Chef, Eric Gremillion shares he was proud that his team was “producing the number of meals with the limited amount of staff that we had at the time” and now we are happy to share we have a fully staffed kitchen!
Looking forward to the next FY, we are hoping to further understand the demographics we serve, offer more variety and more culturally diverse meals. Additionally, this FY we have purchased new kitchen equipment that will help production to be more efficient and hopefully expand our offerings.
“As a nurse and a person with knowledge of nutrition, I appreciate the balance and variety of meals.”
Barbara, Client
THE SENIORS WE SERVE
Eloise: From nun to wife and meal deliverer to MOW recipient
Eloise A. used to cook and deliver meals to homebound seniors in the 1970s. Today, she receives meals from SOSMOW that have saved her life.
“I thought I was eating just fine, but then I ended up in the ER from malnourishment. My doctor says, ‘Eloise, I’m putting you on Meals on Wheels. It’s not a request. It’s a command.’ So I said OK.”
This was in 2021, about 50 years after Eloise used to cook and deliver meals to homebound seniors herself. As a Catholic nun, she started senior community and medical centers, ran daycare and childcare centers for parents who couldn’t afford them, and provided hands-on support to anyone who needed it.
That’s how she met her husband. Yes, while a nun and in midlife, she was working with an ordained Catholic Priest from Ireland, Sean, and they fell in love while in the tiny town of Douglas, Wyoming (“Home of the Jackalope”). To be truthful, Eloise said, she hadn’t much wanted to be a nun anyway; she’d dreamed of acting. But as a teenager, she had promised God to join a convent if he saved her mother from dying. Her mother lived, and Eloise kept her word!
Sean couldn’t marry, though, and Eloise decided it wasn’t right to stay in the convent. So she left. They both eventually moved to California, Sean left the church, and they married in 1985.
With degrees in sociology and clinical psychology, Eloise worked at a hospital while Sean directed the men’s section of a nonprofit.
“Sean was the love of my life. We weren’t married long enough,” Eloise said. He passed away in 2008. “I have coffee with his 8X10 photo every morning. But looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing about my life because of all the people I’ve helped, especially in poor areas.”
Now, thanks to the generosity of SOSMOW supporters, 88-year-old Eloise is getting the help she needs to live independently in her Oakland home.
“We didn’t get retirement (income) from working for the church, so MOW has turned out to be a blessing in more ways than one,” she said. “I’m very grateful.”
“It’s worth your time and effort to help others.”
JayJ and Angela, Volunteers
Strategically planning for growth
No age group in Alameda County has grown more in the past 15 years than age 65 and older, and experts predict this trend will continue. Determined to be prepared, SOSMOW created a three- to five-year strategic plan that Executive Director Charlie Deterline said is a testament to the energy and commitment of current staff, volunteers and supporters.
“We’ve gotten better and better at what we do since the pandemic. We’ve seen the benefits of change, and our mindset is one of always looking for a better way to do something,” he said.
The strategic plan sets out four priorities:
- Continue to prioritize the physical and mental health of the people we serve through tailored nutrition and wraparound support.
- Find ways to better utilize our current space while planning for the future.
- Improve our people operations (take care of our staff and volunteers).
- Strengthen our fiscal health.
“We’ve learned what we’re capable of and applied the lessons to our strategic plan, investing in innovation and technology, our people and opportunities for them, and equipment to be more cost effective,” Deterline said. “SOSMOW is the best at serving vulnerable seniors, and the strategic plan ensures we will continue to be.”
Volunteers
120
New
Volunteers
16,198
Driver
Hours
924
Kitchen Volunteer
Hours
437
Administration
Hours
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT
San Leandro delivery driver exemplifies giving spirit of all SOSMOW volunteers
SOS Meals on Wheels volunteers embody the saying, “The more you give, the more you get”―volunteers like Steve Rein, 77, who has been delivering meals in San Leandro for two years but giving back to his community all his life. After half a century of volunteering while he taught inner-city sixth grade, managed rock bands and helped build his brother’s business, Steve says SOS lets him give value to seniors every day.
“A big part of the attraction, besides providing something for people in need, is the chance to develop relationships with them. It’s more fulfilling for me personally than I imagined it could be,” Steve says.
He tries chatting in Spanish to a Hispanic client.
“I mess up and we laugh a lot,” Steve says. “One day, he was out weeding his front yard―so on my next visit, I gave him a tool I use to reach weeds in the cracks. He was so excited!”
Another client, a woman who didn’t usually open her door more than a few inches, finally let Steve see inside her apartment.
“She obviously couldn’t keep up with cleaning and laundry, so I asked if she’d let me and some friends come clean up her kitchen,” Steve said. “I brought a couple of friends with garbage bags, gloves and cleaning supplies and worked for an hour. She was very grateful.”
Like most volunteers, Steve downplays his role in bringing a little joy along with healthy meals into clients’ lives.
“It’s not a one-way street. It keeps things in perspective. I could’ve been born as anyone else in the world, but I was born a white male in the United States, and I’ve only been hungry once in my life, always have had shelter and opportunities. It’s why my wife and I have always taught our daughter the importance of community service,” he said.
| Financial Position | June 30, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Assets | |
| Current Assets | $5,357,345 |
| Fixed Assets | $492,732 |
| Total Assets | $5,850,077 |
| Liabilities | |
| Current Liabilities | $403,442 |
| Long Term Liabilities | $ 0 |
| Total Liabilities | $403,442 |
| Net Assets | $5,446,635 |
| Total Liabilities & Net Assets | $5,850,077 |
| Financial Activities | |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $7,381,149 |
| Expenses | $6,771,263 |
| Change in Net Assets | $609,886 |
| Food Expense | |
| Current Liabilities | $403,442 |
| Raw Food & Supplies | $2,624,900 |
“Quote here and here!”
Foundation, Corporate, Small Business, & Community Group Supporters
We gratefully acknowledge all our generous institutional supporters, big and small, who contributed to Fiscal Year 2022-2023.
- Alameda Anesthesia Associates Medical Group, Inc.
- Amazon Smile
- Amerisink
- Bay Area News Group – Share the Spirit
- Bayfab Metals Inc
- BNY Mellon
- Bright Funds Foundation
- Catholic Daughters of the Americas #2400
- Community Presbyterian Church Danville
- Crescent Porter Hale Foundation
- Decus Biomedical, Llc.
- Dodge & Cox Matching Gift Program
- East Bay Community Foundation
- East Bay Foundation on Aging
- EDM Exotics Inc.
- Excelsior German Center at the Altenheim
- Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC
- Fidelity Charitable
- Fremont Bank Foundation
- Frontstream SPV LLC
- GoodCoin Giving Fund
- Hayward Rotary Club
- Jess C. Spencer Mortuary
- JPMorgan Chase Good Works Employee Giving Program
- Keenan and Associates
- Local Independent Charities of America
- Meals on Wheels of Alameda County
- Meals on Wheels of America
- Morgan Stanley Gift Fund
- Network for Good
- Nick Drabec Construction
- Northern California Corvette Association
- Patelco Credit Union
- PayPal Giving Fund
- Port of Oakland
- Resident Council of Piedmont Gardens
- Royal Coffee, Inc.
- Salesforce.org
- San Leandro Garden Club
- San Leandro Towing, LLC
- Schwab Charitable Fund
- SPRSI Council #89
- TD Ameritrade Clearing
- The Benevity Community Impact Fund
- The Blackbaud Giving Fund
- The Braddock Family Foundation
- The California Wellness Foundation
- The Oakland Athletics Community Fund
- The Swinerton Foundation
- Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church
- UBS
- United Methodist Women of San Leandro
- United Way of the Bay Area
- Vanguard Charitable
- William G. Gilmore Foundation