Tarrant County, Meals on Wheels to provide air conditioning units for 'vulnerable residents'

Meals on Wheels Inc. of Tarrant County will provide free air conditioning window units and air conditioning/heating combination window units to eligible residents as part of a new grant program with Tarrant County.

County commissioners voted Aug. 2 to approve spending $180,000 from the general fund designated for community outreach on the grant program.

Those eligible for the new units include people who are disabled, the elderly, those on low or fixed incomes as well as grandparents raising grandchildren, according to a county news release. Meals on Wheels will purchase the units and do the installation, according to the release.

“With the extreme heat we’re seeing this summer, there is a crying need in our community,” Tarrant County Precinct 1 Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks said in the release. “This effort between Tarrant County and Meals on Wheels will help reach some of our most vulnerable residents.”

Partner agencies, including the Aging & Disability Resource Center of Tarrant County and the Community Resource Connection Group, will refer eligible clients to the program. Anyone needing a unit should contact their social worker or case manager.

Those who do not have a case worker or social manager should call the resource center at 855-937-2372 or the Tarrant County Department of Human Services at 817-531-5620.