Meals-on-wheels does a U-turn in Wayne County

When Home Meal Service lost its meals-on-wheels contract last fall to The Arc Wayne, officials from both agencies expressed hope they could forge a partnership that would benefit both organizations and most importantly, Wayne County’s home-bound seniors.

Kathy Schneemann, volunteer coordinator for Home Meal Service, said there was no guarantee that was going to happen, and the agency braced for the worst.

“When we lost the bid, we were shut down in our heads,” she said.

For many years, The Arc Wayne prepared a portion of the meals Home Meal Service delivered around the county to seniors and others in need.

Now armed with the county home-meal delivery contract following competitive bidding, The Arc Wayne turned to the agency that knew a little something about meals on wheels: Home Meal Service, which had been providing the service for more than four decades.