Meal Programs

AgeOptions and its partners agencies offer a variety of meal programs that are designed to reduce hunger and food insecurity, promote socialization for older adults, promote the health and well-being of older adults and delay the onset of adverse health conditions.

Home Delivered Meals

Home Delivered Meals (HDM) are available throughout suburban Cook County.* Each HDM program provides a minimum of five meals per week and some programs also offer additional meals for dinners  and/or weekends. Most programs delivery meals Monday-Friday to participants’ homes, providing a safety check and face-to-face conversation. However, schedules may vary across programs.

Meals are based on a dietitian-approved menu and meet 1/3 of the current Dietary Reference Intakes. Most sites offer a general diet meal as well as these medically tailored diets:

• Diabetic friendly
• Renal friendly
• Gluten free
• Vegetarian
• Pureed
• Other medically tailored diets may be available in some areas.

In addition to the general HDM programs, ethnically or culturally tailored HDMs are available in select areas:

• Kosher
• South Asian
• Korean

Participants must be age 60+ (a few exceptions apply) and live in suburban Cook County and must be assessed for eligibility.

• If you are a member of a Managed Care Organization (MCO), please contact your MCO case manager so they can assess you and make a referral.
• If you are not a member of a MCO, please contact your local Care Coordination Unit so they can assess you and make a referral. To find your local Care Coordination Units, use our AgeOptions Referral Webpage https://services.ageoptions.org/. Under What are you looking for? select Home Delivered Meals, then enter your home address.

*Barrington Township in suburban Cook County operates its own self-funded Home Delivered Meal program. For meals in Barrington Township click https://bacoa.org/ or call: 847-381-5030.

Meal Kits

Meal Kit boxes are available throughout suburban Cook County. Each Meal Kit box includes the raw, frozen and/or packaged food items necessary to make three meals a day for seven days (a total of 21 meals) using the recipes included in each box. Meal Kit boxes are delivered to participants’ homes on a weekly basis, providing a safety check and face-to-face conversation.

Meals are based on a dietitian-approved menu and meet 1/3 of the current Dietary Reference Intakes. Available cuisine types include:

• General
• Black/African American
• Latino/Hispanic
• Kosher (available only in northern suburbs)

Participants must be age 60+ and live in suburban Cook County and must be assessed for eligibility.

• If you are a member of a Managed Care Organization (MCO), please contact your MCO case manager so they can assess you and make a referral.
• If you are not a member of a MCO, please contact your local Care Coordination Unit so they can assess you and make a referral. To find your local Care Coordination Units, use our AgeOptions Referral Webpage https://services.ageoptions.org/. Under What are you looking for? select Home Delivered Meals, then enter your home address.

Congregate Dining

AgeOptions’ partner agencies offer over 40 congregate dining sites located throughout suburban Cook County. Each site is a resource center with great food, good friends, information, activities and more. Most sites are open 5 days a week, Monday-Friday.

Meals are based on a dietitian-approved menu and meet 1/3 of the current Dietary Reference Intakes. Most sites serve a general diet, with a few sites also providing a limited selection of medically tailored diets. Some congregate dining sites provide ethnically or culturally tailored meals based on ethnic or cultural practices:

• Korean
• Chinese
• South Asian
• Halal

Participants must be age 60+ and live in suburban Cook County and must complete a registration form onsite.

Click here for a list of AgeOptions congregate dining sites. Please call for exact days and times, menus and activities. Unless otherwise specified, all meals are general diets.

Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program

The Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) provides eligible older adults with coupons that may be used at participating Farmers’ Markets throughout suburban Cook County.

Coupons typically are available mid-June-August each year, for use July 10-October 31 of that same year.

A number of organizations partner with AgeOptions to distribute coupon booklets to older adults in their service area. To find a list of Summer 2023 distribution sites, please click here.