In the face of this unseen danger
By Jeff Thomas
I know you feel pretty stressed these days. You might be out of work, so you are financially stressed. If you get a fever, you might be forced to shelter at home. Shucks, pretty soon the entire city might be forced to shelter in place. Despite all of these major difficulties, if you are healthy and under 60 you will probably live through this crisis.
But for seniors, this crisis is life threatening. For you, being confined to your house is a major inconvenience. However, across the city many seniors are homebound every day. That means they depend upon people to help them survive. The New Orleans Council on Aging has been servicing the needs of our senior community for nearly 45 years. Meals on Wheels is just one of the services they provide. In these days of COVID-19, this critical resource is being stressed.
Howard Rodgers, the agency’s Executive Director, still reports to his office daily. He and his dedicated staff fielded a conference call with leaders from across the city this week. Coordinating and actually expanding service, the NOCOA plans to continue to feed those homebound seniors whom they help every week. Additionally, they want to be a resource for other seniors who are suddenly homebound.
“We are committed to the senior population in this city,” said Rodgers. “Right now, we are doing everything we can to continue and expand our services, despite funding challenges.” Drivers and meals are just a part of the process. Back office personnel make certain correct addresses and effective routes are in place. Others are doing wellness calls – just talking to seniors about how they are doing. Senior centers, where more mobile older adults congregate for meals are closed but have transitioned to meal pick up locations in some cases. But some are funded differently and may not be able to continue for the long haul if a dedicated funding source is not found.
We are encouraged to social distance for good reason. Those daily or weekly family visits could have devastating consequences for our seniors. Wanting to deliver food, a son without any symptoms can unintentionally transfer the virus to his unsuspecting senior mother. The consequences of this good deed are mostly bad. The NOCOA drivers have been trained to alert seniors and distance themselves as the senior retrieves what could be their only hot meal that day.
During these turbulent times, The New Orleans Council on Aging continues to safely provide hot meals to our senior population. Rodgers and his skeleton staff are like those heroes who dove into the dirty Katrina waters and rescued citizens who found themselves in distress. Though the water is clean during this crisis, Rodgers and staff risk contracting the invisible and sneaky virus daily.
“Our seniors need to eat every day,” said Rodgers as he gathered the staff for another conference call.
The New Orleans Council on Aging is a non-profit.
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu