Meals on Wheels lands $1M grant to serve HIV patients

A central Indiana organization that delivers meals to homebound senior citizens has landed a $1 million state grant to begin delivering medically tailored meals to people with HIV.

Meals on Wheels of Central Indiana plans to use the grant from the State Department of Health to deliver nutritious food to low-income residents with HIV in areas of Indiana with large populations of people infected with the virus that causes AIDS. That includes Allen, Delaware, Lake, Marion and Scott counties.

The Indianapolis-based group will partner with local service providers to deliver the meals, which will be prepared under a physician's direction to meet the specific nutritional needs of the chronically ill.

Project manager Nick Fennig said Meals on Wheels is working to ensure that local HIV service groups "embrace a medical nutrition therapy model for all their clients."