OUR MISSION
Silver Horizons’ Mission is to provide critical help to extremely low-income households with life’s basics: free groceries, household bills and minor home repairs/retrofits. Each month, these three core services assist about 2,000 people.
 

Most of the households we serve struggle on $900-$1,200 a month. Our programs continue to evolve to better meet today’s realities.

THE SENIORS AND VETERANS WE HELP

Perhaps our most basic purpose is making sure these households have food to eat. Silver Horizons provides about a week's worth of groceries (monthly) through food pantries and home deliveries of groceries. Silver Horizons also partners with other organizations to get groceries to those families who are most in need of help.

Silver Horizons is entirely focused on:

• Helping the lowest-income households meet their basic needs

• Have access to nutrition

• Maintain a decent standard of living

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SILVER HORIZONS PROVIDES CRITICAL HELP TO:

• Seniors and veterans in danger of having utilities shut off

• Seniors and veterans who otherwise would have to leave their homes because of changing health needs

• Seniors and veterans who simply do not have enough food to eat

Most of the people we serve would say that without Silver Horizons they would not have enough food to eat. Many would say that without Silver Horizons they would have to leave their homes because of changing health needs that make their current home unsafe, or because they simply cannot afford their basic household expenses.

Seniors and veterans are skipping meals in order to stretch their groceries. Others are living in unsafe conditions (broken windows, doors that don’t lock, etc.), while still other find they cannot move around their homes now that they are using walkers or require a wheelchair. Even an uneven floor or set of three steps make a home unsafe or a place they cannot access if their wheelchair cannot fit through a doorway or up a few steps.

Silver Horizons is building wheelchair ramps, installing grab bars, helping with minor home repairs, and providing free groceries — all in an effort to help struggling, low-income seniors and veterans survive (and even enjoy a decent standard of living).

To the best of our ability, our goal is to families feeling safe and secure, and in their own homes. Each day, Silver Horizons receives 60-80+ requests for help with important household bills. On several recent occasions, we have received nearly 100 telephone calls in a single day! 

 

Important household bills may include:

• Electric

• Gas

• Internet

• Firewood and propane (if primary source of heat)

• Landline telephone

• Vet bills

• Water

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Our focus is on helping households that typically can afford their household bills, but due to some unusual circumstances, are having difficulty paying one particular bill. Further screening takes place to ensure we are helping those who are truly in-need. However, we do not help those who are perpetually drowning in bills (living way beyond their means).

In recent years, Silver Horizons has seen an increase not only in the numbers of requests for help, but also in the level of assistance that is needed. For example, a couple of years ago (even last year), most requests for household bill assistance were for $100-$300 (on average). Today, requests are more in the $350-$900 range.

In normal times, about 60% of the food and non-food items we distribute to seniors are donated via food drives. These food drives typically occur at churches, schools, large office buildings, etc. Today, many places simply do not want to host food drives. Silver Horizons has been forced to purchase more and more grocery items in order to continue our free groceries program. Our costs have skyrocketed as a result of this shift in how we secure groceries.

 

Please consider hosting a food drive. Email Ron at ron@silverhorizons.org or call 505-884-3881 to help out. Our organization exists because of volunteer and donor support from the community.