An estimated half of older adults admitted to the hospital are at risk for malnutrition when they arrive, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
That staggering percentage points to food access challenges facing some older adults.
Hunger Task Force is among the groups trying to drive that statistic down.
“Hunger Task Force serves nearly 180,000 people every month across our statewide network, including nearly 60,000 people locally here in the Milwaukee community,” chief strategy officer Jonathan Hansen says. “One in every seven people that we serve are a senior.”
According to the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services Aging & Disabilities Services, roughly 185,000 people over the age of 60 reside in the county.
Hansen says seniors face unique challenges.
“Many seniors are living on fixed incomes, they have transportation issues, mobility issues, many seniors are homebound and they can't access the grocery store,” Hansen says. "We find that seniors are often the first that need to cut their food budget because they can't afford things like proteins or meats.”
He says some seniors become “unintentional vegetarians.”
FoodShare cuts heighten needs
Changes in SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) have created additional barriers for seniors.
Called FoodShare in Wisconsin, the anti-poverty program is designed to make sure people have access to nutritious food. In 2025, the criteria for access to the benefit was narrowed through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“Many seniors only receive about $20 or so a month of FoodShare benefits. And so think about how high prices are right now. We know that grocery prices over the last 3 to 5 years have risen by upwards of 30%,” Hansen says. “Rent costs are going up. Utilities in Wisconsin this past year are increased by 1%. So those fixed, limited resources that a senior has to purchase food go even less far than they did several years ago.”
Hunger Task Force operates FoodShare Outreach Centers, one on Milwaukee's northwest side and the other on the south side, to assist older adults in applying for and managing their SNAP benefits.
Outreach to seniors and food deserts with Mobile Market
Hansen says one of Hunger Task Force's most innovative ways to reach older adults is through its grocery-store-on-wheels. The Mobile Market operates in partnership with local Piggly Wiggly stores.
“It is a single-aisle grocery store on wheels that travels to food deserts, senior centers, and areas where there's high populations of low-income seniors living, and it provides groceries that are fresh and healthy at an affordable discounted price off the regular grocery store price,” Hansen says.
It reaches between 12,000 and 15,000 shoppers a year.
“We make 30 stops every month in Milwaukee County. Many of those stops are at local senior centers or senior housing units,” Hansen says if a neighborhood has recently lost a grocery store or is already known to be a food desert, “We can deploy the mobile to those areas. “
StockBox supplements seniors' groceries
Hunger Task Force has been administering the Community Supplemental Food Program, or StockBox, for over two decades in southeastern Wisconsin, delivering 10,000 boxes a month.
“These boxes are specially designed to provide healthy shelf-stable items that stretch a senior's food budget from month to month,” Hansen says.
He says many StockBox distribution sites also serve as Mobile Market stops.
“So a senior can pick up their CSFP box, but then also go shop on the market for fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, milk, or cheese,” Hansen says.
HTF works with senior centers and meal sites throughout Milwaukee County so folks can conveniently pick up their box.
DoorDash became a partner more recently.
“About 20% of our caseload, or 2,000 boxes, is DoorDashed right to the homes of seniors,” Hansen says. The partnership started in 2021, “during the pandemic years, and it is still going strong. Recently, we delivered our 80,000th box to seniors through DoorDash.”
Senior Famers Market Nutrition Program
HTF administers this program in Milwaukee County on behalf of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services with funding from the USDA.
“This past summer we distributed over 8,000 farmers market vouchers to local seniors. These are $25 vouchers that seniors can use at our local farmers markets [for] fresh and healthy foods,” Hansen says.
Volunteers
Hansen says volunteers fuel Hunger Task Force, both financially and in carrying out day-to-day operations.
"I've always said that hunger relief is community work. We're supported by 15,000 volunteers every year that help us build boxes for seniors and help us to distribute food at the mobile market and run our programs,” Hansen says. “Even though that need is very high right now, we are meeting that need behind strong community support.“
Support for Seeking Solutions: Food Access in Milwaukee is provided by Jon E. Sorenson, Christine Symchych and Jim McNulty, Forage Kitchen, Capuchin Community Services and Antonia Foundation.
