Embracing Life with Open Arms

Open Arms of Minnesota
Meal Delivery for People Living with HIV/AIDS
MINNEAPOLIS, MN

Shirley was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2005. She has already been through chemotherapy, and surgery followed by radiation are the next steps on her treatment schedule. The exhausted, 63-year-old wife and mother struggles to make ends meet in Minnesota, as her family lives on about $1,000 a month. Since she does not have health insurance, medical expenses drain her family’s limited resources.

Opened in 1986, a Twin-Cities-based organization called Open Arms prepares and delivers hundreds of free nutritious meals every day to the homes of people in the area living with HIV or AIDS and other serious illnesses, including their dependent children and related caregivers. Deliveries typically consist of a breakfast snack along with a full lunch and dinner—cooked and prepared largely by volunteers.

Volunteers deliver meals to over 40 zip codes in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Each delivery includes a breakfast snack and a complete lunch and dinner. Though originally designed to serve people living with HIV or AIDS, Open Arms expanded its local programming in 2000 to also serve women in treatment for breast cancer as well as people living with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and multiple sclerosis (MS). On June 19, 2006, Open Arms delivered its one millionth meal in the Twin Cities.

Shirley’s husband doesn’t cook, and he works all day. If Open Arms didn’t prepare and deliver meals to her, she said “I’d have to make it myself, and that’s not easy when you don’t have any energy.”

Open Arms’ healthy food is not a luxury but rather a necessity to make sure she can recover from treatments and regain energy without the extra stress of trying to make ends meet. “I really feel blessed to be getting this good nutrition…your organization has really helped me get through this illness,” Shirley said. “My family and I really appreciate all the help Open Arms has offered. Thank you!”

*For resources on HIV/AIDS, click here.  Photo of Shirley (above) by Ingrid Young.