Delphine Christensen has approximately 200 mouths to feed every day. With options such as stuffed chicken breast, beef stroganoff and Salisbury steak, she makes sure her clients eat well.
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“They especially love meat loaf, lasagna, and meatballs with gravy and mashed potatoes,” says Christensen, executive director of Motor Meals of Ann Arbor, a volunteer-driven U-M Health System (UMHS) community outreach program that delivers meals to homebound people in Ann Arbor and surrounding townships, regardless of age or income.
The program, which requests a daily donation of $2.50, has been delivering food for 30 years. It is geared toward senior citizens, a group Christensen—who received her bachelor’s in social work from Madonna University and her master’s in social work from U-M—has focused on during her career.
“There is a frail, elderly population out there that would probably be in nursing homes if there weren’t services like Motor Meals,” she says. “We are advocating helping them to live with dignity and independently as long as possible.”
The program began in 1974 when several UMHS doctors—recognizing that many senior patients released from the hospital needed nutritional meals—urged their wives to develop a program to serve food to homebound people. The University provided space for the volunteers to work and deliver the meals. When Motor Meals ran into financial difficulty in 1995, Christensen says, U-M took over the program.
Clients receive a hot and cold meal each day, Christensen says. “Everything is nutritionally balanced, and all our menus are USDA approved.”
As executive director, Christensen is involved in every aspect of the program, including overseeing her staff, which includes one other full-time employee, three part-time employees, three work-study students and a student intern. She also recruits and trains more than 400 volunteers who deliver the meals; does fundraising with her Advisory Board; writes grants; and delivers meals to clients.
“I can’t do it all anymore. There is just no human way,” she says. “I’m fortunate enough to have a wonderful staff that cares about these people.”
The 50-60 hours a week she spends at the office is evidence of Christensen’s dedication to the job. It is the time she gets to spend with the seniors that make all those hours worthwhile, she says.
“They have wonderful stories to tell,” she says. “They have so much to implant and impart to all of us about what they’ve lived, what they’ve learned, and their failures and successes.”
Outside of work, Christensen, who lives in Redford, is involved in her church and volunteers at a food kitchen. She also makes frequent trips to Washington, D.C., to visit her grandson.
For information about volunteering, call (734) 763-2377. Meals are delivered noon-2 p.m. Monday-Friday and 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday.
