Meals on Wheels will give AC units to those in need in Tarrant County. Here’s who qualifies
Nearly 200 Tarrant County residents will receive air conditioners after Tarrant County agreed to provide $180,000 for Meals on Wheels to purchase the units.
The commissioners voted unanimously at their meeting Tuesday to provide the money to the organization. Commissioner Gary Fickes was not present.
Meals on Wheels will be able to pay for 180 units. To receive a unit, a person must be elderly, disabled, a grandparent raising children or on a fixed or low income, said Philip Gonzalez, a spokesperson for Meals on Wheels. Those in need will need to request a unit through an outside agency that will then connect them with Meals on Wheels.
Gonzalez did not have a list of agencies the organization would be working with to distribute units available as of Monday afternoon.
“This has become a great issue and a great problem as the heat continues to beat us to death,” commissioner Roy Brooks said.
Since May, 10 people have died in Tarrant County as a result of hyperthermia, most being elderly people without access to air conditioning. Emergency responders in Fort Worth have received 455 heat-related calls this summer — a 115.6% increase over last year.
