Cafe program offers meals to older Iowans

After preparing for the early hours of opening, the Dugout Cafe in Orient opens for morning service at 11 a.m. Within 15 minutes, the cafe is lively, serving American-style meals to locals and those from out-of-town who stop by for the daily special. In the next three hours from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Dugout will serve 45-50 people.

Luis “Coach” Cruz, the owner of the Dugout, doesn’t mind the busy attendance. “They love the way we do our thing here, the food and all that stuff,” he said.

The Dugout Cafe has been the most popular location in the Connections Cafe program, a program started by Connections Area Agency on Aging to serve older Iowans who might not have easy access to nutritious meals. Since being the first cafe to be added to the program, the cafe has served more than 13,000 of the 60,000 meals provided in the program’s history, making up almost 22% of total meals.

Connections AAA is a state-designated support program that provides various services to older Iowans. Director of Community Engagement Aubrey Krueger-Katchara said the goal for these services was to support “people being able to stay in their homes longer and safer.”

The Connections Cafe program is limited only to Iowans over 60 and their spouses, allowing those who are a part of the program to head to a participating cafe to receive a meal. Each meal follows federal guidelines on nutrition, making sure that the meals participants receive are healthy and balanced.

Each member of the program is given a “dine card,” similar to a credit card. The dine card tracks the meals that program participants are receiving, and then sends a suggested contribution statement the next month.

“It says, please give what you can afford to contribute,” said Director of Health Living Programs Sherri Carson. “It’s not a hard charge, we don’t stop services if nobody sends it in. It’s anonymous, it goes directly to fiscal. We don’t track it.”

Connections AAA pays the participating cafe for the meals they provide, helping support the smaller cafes who take part in the program.

“It’s a lot for a cafe,” said Carson. “We never want it to be a hardship for them.”

Cruz was initially worried when joining the program, thinking patrons might take advantage, but he says it hasn’t been a problem for him. “I didn’t think it would go as good as it did,” he said.

Participating cafes are typically in small-town areas where Connections AAA can only provide limited offerings through their standard programs, allowing this partnership to better serve local communities.

Connections AAA typically offers meals as a part of their standard program at specific meal sites, but in cases where they’re only able to serve specific days of the week, the cafe program can still help provide meals.

For example, in Afton, where the AAA is only able to serve one day a week, The Roost, the local cafe that is a part of the program, offers meals as a part of the program, alongside storing frozen meals from the Connections AAA vendor to accommodate.

However, since the program started in December 2021 and added more locations throughout 2022, funding for the program has been limited, plugging expansion to other areas and limiting growth of active members who are a part of the program. Since 2022, the program only added two new locations, bringing the total number of participating cafes to 17.

“The funding we originally got to kickstart this program was in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money,” said Carson. “Once the ARPA money was gone, we had to try to incorporate that into our congregate meal program, which we were already short on for our regular senior centers. It’s been quite a challenge.”

ARPA grants were awarded between April 1, 2021, and March 30, 2022, and were used during the pandemic to support federal medical assistance, alongside funding for home and community-based services. Without their funding, expansion of the program is limited.

Limits to availability for the program have left a waitlist of more than 350 people. Without additional funding, the program can’t extend to help those stuck on the waitlist. Despite the long waitlist, Connections AAA encourages those interested to take a look at their other programs to help get the support they need.

These programs aren’t just a place for older Iowans to get a quick bite - each location offers a chance for older Iowans to socialize and congregate. For older Iowans who have struggles with food insecurity, the program’s value becomes even higher. It’s not uncommon for those in the program to visit different cafes to make full use of the program.

“They do travel,” said Carson. “We have a lot of them that get together as a group and do car rides to the other locations.”

Traveling to a cafe becomes a social activity for those in the program, with Cruz commenting on the amount of regulars he receives from Creston and Winterset, despite the Dugout’s location in Orient.

“We get a lot of regulars,” said Cruz. “Sometimes, they don’t got anybody to talk to at home, they’ll come here and we’ll talk with them. It’s a friendly environment.”

Krueger-Katchara said that interest in the program comes from seniors wanting a different activity than traditional food programs.

“Our seniors today aren’t the same seniors 10 or 20 years ago,” said Krueger-Katchara.

Carson added to that idea. “These guys want to go to a cafe, like we would, and sit around. There’s more meal choice... that can be appealing to them.”

Attention from the program has helped local cafes immensely. Cruz said the effects of the program has helped his cafe grow after being added to the program.

“We went from not doing as much business, it was just me by myself,” said Cruz. “Now, we open at 11 [a.m.], by 11:15, we’re packed.”

Older Iowans interested in the program can sign up for the Connections Cafe program waitlist or receive information about similar programs at (800) 432-9209, or email info@connectionsaaa.org. A few local participating cafes include The Roost in Afton, the 3 C’s Diner in Corning, the Olive Branch and Los Altos in Greenfield, The Dugout Cafe in Orient and the Wagon Wheel Cafe in Tingley.