Agenda

2020 AGENDA

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020

11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. EDT – National Resource Center on Nutrition and Aging (NRCNA) Pre-Conference Intensive*

Senior nutrition program providers have admirably risen to meet the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 public health emergency – transitioning service delivery models to align with stay-at-home orders, expanding services to meet the growing need, initiating new technologies to connect virtually, engaging new volunteers, and more. Critical to these efforts has been the ability to leverage existing relationships with key stakeholders (i.e., community-based organizations, food retailers, healthcare providers, food system partners, technology providers), as well as establish new and/or non-traditional partnerships to meet the evolving needs of older adults in providers’ communities. Join the National Resource Center on Nutrition and Aging (NRCNA) to celebrate and explore these successes as well as expand your ability to build capacity, maintain resiliency and drive innovative partnerships into the future as the COVID-19 response and recovery efforts continue. Attendees will have the opportunity to register to participate in a follow-up asset mapping workshop on September 10.

There will be a scheduled 30-minute break between 12:15 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. EDT. 

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3:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. EDT – Leading During a Global Pandemic: Lessons That Will Shape Our Future

COVID-19 has triggered a wave of unprecedented demand as seniors became suddenly homebound and congregate centers shifted to delivery and pick-up options. As a result, senior nutrition programs are serving more meals, to more people, with rapidly reworked operations and processes to continue to safely provide the services needed to support the health and wellbeing of our nation’s seniors. Simultaneously, other changes are impacting the field of aging, the Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2020 was signed into law, the continuing shifting of the healthcare landscape, and a population of seniors that’s more diverse than ever before. Join the Administration for Community Living Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging Lance Robertson for remarks and a fireside chat-style discussion moderated by Meals on Wheels America President and CEO Ellie Hollander that will explore topics and questions that are top of mind for senior nutrition professionals. Funding, regulations, innovation, future, partnerships and alliances and more.

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4:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT – General Session: 2020 Conference Kick Off

What a year it’s been! Join Meals on Wheels America Board Chair Patti Lyons and President and CEO Ellie Hollander as they reflect on all that the network has faced and accomplished amid these unprecedented times. We will celebrate the 2020 Sister Alice Marie Quinn Award recipient and gear up for an exciting week of Conference events like we’ve never done before!

Sponsored by TRIO Community Meals

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EDT – Concurrent Lightning Learning Sessions

The pandemic is affecting every aspect of how Meals on Wheels programs operate  – including how we put volunteers to work. Because of this, we have a unique opportunity to rethink how we recruit and train new supporters, interact with seasoned volunteers and everyone invested in our clients and the mission. Join us to learn some quick tips on how to keep your volunteer army engaged and connected during this unprecedented time.

Join 2020 Title Sponsor TRIO Community Meals to explore responding to the diverse culinary preferences of today’s meal participants as you seek to engage and improve the health and well-being of older adults in your communities. Today’s environment has shifted much of how we provide meals, serving more meals to a more and more diverse population. Learn how TRIO Community Meals has been able to maintain and increase participation in meal programs serving the increasing diversity of those we serve.

Sponsored by TRIO Community Meals

12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. EDT – Concurrent Lightning Learning Sessions

The awareness for the power of Meals on Wheels has never been greater, but how do we maintain this spotlight with a rapid news cycle, distracted lawmakers and many causes competing for attention? Join Meals on Wheels America staff for a glimpse at how we’re working to maintain momentum with the media, lawmakers, supporters and followers, and how you can steal these engagement ideas for your own use locally. This Lightning Learning Session will tee up a more intensive exploration of donor cultivation and stewardship occurring on Wednesday, September 2 at 1:00 p.m. EDT.

What difference a year makes, especially the year we’ve all had! Join us for this high-level update on the critical partnership between Meals on Wheels America and PetSmart Charities. We are committed to ensuring that more seniors and their pets live healthy, nourished lives, together. During this session, you’ll hear what this partnership has accomplished to date as well as plans for how we are developing the next round of Meals on Wheels Loves Pets funding.

Sponsored by PetSmart Charities

1:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. EDT – Sponsor Spotlights

You don’t have to miss out on face-to-face time with our 2020 Sponsors this year! These concurrent 30-minute live webinars will allow attendees to hear directly from our Sponsors about their latest products, services and/or initiatives. Attendees will be able to ask questions in real time and hear testimonials from other Members who may already be taking advantage of their offerings. Sponsor Spotlights will be recorded and made available afterwards in case it’s too tough to choose just one!

2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT – General Session: Race Matters and the Meals on Wheels Network

At the heart of our Meals on Wheels mission is health, compassion, safety, and connection for all of America’s seniors who are in greatest economic and social need.  And while our programs serve racially, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse populations, and racial equity has been championed in organizations across the country, the reality is unconscious bias and systemic racism still exists leaving many people both outside and inside our organizations not treated equitably. This Listen & Learn Panel discussion provides an opportunity for Black Meals on Wheels professionals to share their insights and experiences both personally and professionally as we all witness one of the largest social justice movements since the 1960’s. Join us in our journey to listen, learn and challenge our own beliefs so that we can better serve our communities and more equitably run our organizations.

3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT – Concurrent Sessions

Ingenuity is born from adversity, as the saying goes. The need to be responsive to the risks of COVID-19 certainly created significant challenges for congregate and home-delivered meal programs. How can we deliver meals safely while allowing for social interaction on some level? How can we scale up quickly? How can we cover the increased costs? Could there be any silver lining to this crisis? Perhaps this: Meals on Wheels programs were forced to rapidly adjust service models, which, in turn, allowed them to be responsive to both the crisis and their clients – adaptations that may help us all be more resilient, proactive and competitive long into the future. Join us to hear from Members on their COVID-inspired innovations.

Sponsored by Oliver Packaging & Equipment 

The Congregate Nutrition Program is a vital and effective vehicle for the provision of nutrition services targeted at community-residing older adults. Due to the onset of the COVID-19 public health emergency, shelter-in-place orders created a rapid increase in the number of seniors who rely on home-delivery of meals as their primary source of food. As states and local programs balance the risks and benefits of re-opening congregate locations, many are concerned about the long-term impact of the pandemic on operations. Join us to discuss how the congregate nutrition program can innovate and evolve to meet existing and new challenges to its operation and what lessons can be learned from pivots made to adjust to meet the growing need for services.

4:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. EDT – Recharge Break

Join us for an entertaining break between afternoon events designed to keep your energy up and engagement high! Recharge Breaks will include a fun mix of Meals on Wheels trivia, inspiring videos, our always-popular raffle and more! Note: You must be livestreaming the Recharge Break to be in the running for one of our great raffle prizes provided by our 2020 Sponsors and Exhibitors. 

4:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT – Networking Breakouts

Year after year, attendees come to our in-person Conference for the networking, but just because we’re not together in San Diego, doesn’t mean we can’t connect with our fellow Members face-to-face in small groups! Self-select Networking Breakout topics will be announced soon. 

 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT – Communities of Practice

Our Communities of Practice provide a forum for similarly-sized programs to network, share best practices, discuss common challenges and explore innovative solutions. These 90-minute virtual meetings will focus on how programs have adapted our unique and differentiating Meals on Wheels service model in response to COVID-19, how programs might need to continue to adapt during the recovery stage along as well as what programs might look like in a post-COVID world. Attendees will have an opportunity to have face-to-face discussions in small breakout groups. Please attend the meeting based on your senior nutrition operating budget size:

• Small Programs (senior nutrition operating budgets less than $500,000/year)
• Medium Programs (senior nutrition operating budgets between $500,000 and $2,000,000/year)
• Large Programs (senior nutrition operating budgets greater than $2,000,000/year)

1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. EDT – Concurrent Sessions

2020 is our pivot point. COVID-19 is not only disrupting our communities and infrastructures, increasing demands for services and adding even greater stress to an already crowded nonprofit landscape. It's no longer fundraising as usual and it’s easy to feel distracted and overwhelmed. Fundraising AC (after Coronavirus) will be different than BC (before Coronavirus), but tried and true steps to preserving and strengthening donor relationships you take now can put you on the path toward long-term sustainability. There’s never been a more important time to focus on donor retention. Did you know that, on average, nonprofits lose more than 60% of their donors each and every year? Retention of first-time donors is even worse at an average 20%. This donor churn creates unnecessary work, leaves money on the table and is not cost effective for nonprofits, especially those with limited capacity. Join Barbara O'Reilly, CFRE, Principal, Windmill Hill Consulting, to learn how you can strengthen your fundraising and storytelling in the midst of chaos.

Sponsored by Subaru of America

Join us for a conversation with experts on how healthcare providers and payers are evolving to address social determinants of health during and after the pandemic and what opportunities exist for Meals on Wheels programs to engage. You will hear about major shifts in healthcare delivery and financing, trends in Medicare Advantage and Medicaid and the experience of a Meals on Wheels program on the ground as they seek to partner with healthcare.

2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT – Sponsor Spotlights

You don’t have to miss out of face-to-face time with our 2020 Sponsors this year! These concurrent 30-minute live webinars will allow attendees to hear directly from our Sponsors about their latest products, services and/or initiatives. Attendees will be able to ask questions in real time and hear testimonials from other Members who may already be taking advantage of their offerings. Sponsor Spotlights will be recorded and made available afterwards in case it’s too tough to choose just one!

3:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. EDT – General Session: The Importance of Staying Socially Connected While Physically Distant

Now more than ever, the critical role Meals on Wheels plays to provide human connection to vulnerable, homebound seniors is intimately understood by much of the world. Join us for a fireside chat where we’ll discuss the ongoing importance of staying connected, the role of Meals on Wheels and healthcare partners in this space, and how COVID-19 is shaping our understanding of social isolation and loneliness.

3:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT – Recharge Break

Join us for an entertaining break between afternoon events designed to keep your energy up and engagement high! Recharge Breaks will include a fun mix of Meals on Wheels trivia, inspiring videos, our always-popular raffle and more! Note: You must be livestreaming the Recharge Break to be in the running for one of our great raffle prizes provided by our 2020 Sponsors and Exhibitors. 

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EDT – Concurrent Sessions

If you are like the presenters of this session, you are asking yourself how in the world you are going to survive the next 18 months with demand for services continuing to be high but resources likely to be lower as emergency funding runs out and donors are dealing with “giving fatigue.”  You may also have entered into new partnerships that in the past might have seemed unlikely but by now your community has seen the benefits and they don’t want you to go back to your prior strategies and goals. So how do you stay true to your mission while the world is changing all around you? It starts by remembering that executing a mission is never linier, it’s more like sailing against the wind. While moving side to side, you are always advancing toward your destination. Keeping a laser focus on a well-crafted mission is the key to navigating through the challenges that lay ahead.  Attendees will hear how their peers are charting a course for the future by actively managing change with the aid of a concept we call “Mission Based Budgeting.”

Senior nutrition programs have a long history of partnering with hospitals to provide post-hospital, transitional care services. The current public health emergency has further emphasized the need to provide targeted nutrition and wellness services to high-risk older adults as more and more are accessing hospital-based services due to both underlying- and COVID-19-exacerbated vulnerabilities. Since 2017, the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Administration on Aging (AoA) has funded inventive organizations to support testing promising practices that look to enhance the quality and effectiveness of nutrition services programs or outcomes within the aging services network. A selection of these grantees is focused on technology-enabled solutions to optimize partnerships with hospitals/healthcare systems. Join us to hear how these grantees leverage varied technologies to enhance collaborative partnerships, track improved client nutrition and food insecurity status post-hospital discharge, and increase access to high-impact nutrition, benefit and wellness programs for the older adults they serve. You will come away with practice-informed, peer-tested strategies for your immediate use!

 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

11:15 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. EDT – Meals on Wheels America Office Hours

• Member Benefits Overview: Join Meals on Wheels America staff for an overview of all of the incredible benefits your Membership provides, from education and training, grants and funding and year-round virtual networking to discounts on the products and services you use most, and much more! Bring your questions for an interactive Q&A. 
• Member Discount Program: Join Meals on Wheels America staff to learn more about how you can harness the buying power of the entire Meals on Wheels network to save on the products and services you use most – from food, frozen meals and delivery resources, to routing technology, insurance, HR support and volunteer background checks! Bring your questions for an interactive Q&A. 
• 2020 Advocacy Agenda: Join the Meals on Wheels America Advocacy Team to learn more about our current legislative priorities as the annual appropriations processes move forward and the federal government continues to respond to COVID-19. Wondering how the election year comes into play and how you can take action? Bring your questions for an interactive Q&A. 
• Donor Drive Fundraising: The Meals on Wheels Donor Drive program was created to provide Members with the opportunity to start or expand upon an existing direct mail program in your own service area zip codes to reap new, unrestricted revenue for your organization at no upfront cost. Join the Meals on Wheels America Development Team and our direct mail partner, TrueSense Marketing, to learn more about this exclusive opportunity. Both existing Donor Drive participants and programs that are considering joining on are welcome to bring questions for an interactive Q&A. 
• Brand Adoption: When your local program adopts the national Meals on Wheels brand as your own, you create a strong, instantaneous tie to this amazing movement – making your voices even louder and enabling you to better serve your seniors. And, you can boost your visibility through our national partnerships, media placement and more! Join the Meals on Wheels America Brand Team to learn more about what it takes to adopt the brand as your own. Both existing Brand Adopters and programs that are considering the switch are welcome to bring questions for an interactive Q&A. 

12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT – Concurrent Lightning Learning Sessions

Imagine if every day you had to go to the office and act a certain way, dress a certain way or talk a certain way, just to be accepted by a group of other people who are automatically accepted however they act, dress or talk. And, once you were accepted by the group, you had to pretend to laugh at jokes, tolerate comments and endure a level of disrespect that hurts you every day, but the group didn’t even realize what they said was hurtful to you. This is an example of unconscious bias which are hidden biases that can influence workplace decisions and behavior. Research confirms that everyone has unconscious biases – it’s part of human nature and the brain’s need to categorize vast amounts of information. However, if left unchecked, unconscious biases can create an unhealthy work environment and lead to discriminatory behavior. This Lightning Learning Session is designed to create a safe environment to help attendees understand and become more conscious of their hidden biases and assumptions and, perhaps, begin a journey toward managing them.

Safety checks are a key aspect of the More Than A Meal® consistent service model, but now that we are delivering less often to clients, how do we continue to be the “eyes and ears” ensuring their safety in the home? How do we safely conduct in-home assessments and wellness checks? Join us to hear from Member programs on ways they are considering safety for clients and volunteers, and then collectively brainstorm how we might keep in-home safety top of mind in our new normal. It involves not only personal protective equipment and temperature checks, but protocols for identifying and mitigating fall hazards and reimagined in-home assessments. Join us for a fast-paced session and continue the conversation with a Q&A on Meals on Wheels Connect gearing up for Falls Prevention Awareness Day on September 22!

Sponsored by The Home Depot Foundation

1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. EDT – Concurrent Sessions

Building on what was discussed during our recent National Social Isolation Summit, it’s time to get practical. Attendees will hear from a panel of peers discussing social engagement opportunities for their clients amid the pandemic. We’ll explore low-tech, one-on-one engagement opportunities as well as high-tech, conference-style solutions. Bring your best questions and ideas to determine how your program can stay connected to the vulnerable seniors you serve.

Data is a powerful tool that helps us to plan and deliver services effectively and efficiently, to monitor quality and measure impact, and to communicate our stories to prospective supporters. But what data do we need to collect and how should we collect it to optimize the value of that data locally and on behalf of the network? These questions will be the focus of this 75-minute session during which we seek to engage you in a conversation about data collection and sharing as a way to communicate the value and impact of the incredible work that you do.

3:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT – General Session: Keys to Staying Positive During a Crisis

It’s time to put on your own oxygen mask! As nonprofit professionals, we tend to put our work first and our personal well being second. Now add being thrust to the frontlines of a pandemic amid a period of civil unrest. It is possible to not only thrive in the face of this new normal, but we can also become unstoppable as well. Join best-selling author Shola Richards to explore the key strategies to build resilience now, and in the future. If you are looking for an inspiring and actionable session to help you to navigate the current uncertainty with confidence, look no further!

Meals on Wheels America President and CEO Ellie Hollander will close out this inspiring session on the last day of our first-ever Virtual Conference with a look at what’s ahead.

Sponsored by TRIO Community Meals

 
All times, sessions and events are subject to change