Project Angel Heart Expansion to Provide More Meals for Severely Ill Coloradans

There are an abundance of organizations in Colorado working to provide resources to those who need them, including people with severe illnesses. Now, Project Angel Heart is looking forward to an expansion of their services to Pueblo, Weld, Boulder, and Douglas Counties through funding from Kaiser Permanente, according to a press release.

The organization works to improve the health and well being of people with severe illnesses like cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and HIV/AIDS by preparing and delivering medically tailored meals at no cost to those people in need. The expansion increases Project Angel Heart’s reach to a total of 1,350 square miles and marks one of the most significant expansions in the organization’s 30-year history.

Along with the expansion, the organization set a goal to provide 620,000 medically tailored, home-delivered meals to a total of 4,250 people in 2022. Professional chefs and a registered dietitian cook the meals, tailored to meet the individual and medical needs of clients to alleviate hunger and complement their diseased management and treatments. Project Angel Heart volunteers also help package and deliver the meals to clients’ homes every week.

Project Angel Heart President and CEO Owen Ryan calls proper nutrition a “lifeline” for severely ill Coloradans, enabling them to live independently at home, connected to their loved ones and their community.

“We are honored to receive this transformational investment from Kaiser Permanente which will greatly expand the number of people across our state who receive medically tailored meals to manage their health,” Ryan says.

The expansion also enabled the organization to include more comprehensive client care, including nutritional counseling and wellness visits addressing health challenges and reviewing nutrition plans in line with clients’ diagnoses. The release cites the “wide breadth of medical research,” which demonstrates that proper nutrition for chronically and severely ill people keeps them out of the hospital, reduces their out-of-pocket medical expenses and promotes their overall well being.

Colorado’s Kaiser Permanente Regional President Mike Ramseier similarly expressed his pride in working with Project Angel Heart.

“We hope this new contribution enables this cornerstone community organization to help more Coloradans in need, from Pueblo to Weld counties and communities in between,” Ramseier says.

To learn more about Project Angel Heart, visit its website.

Photo courtesy of Project Angel Heart on Instagram