Memphis Local, Sports, Business & Food News | Daily Memphian | Sally Jones Heinz

Guest Column: Federal budget cuts threaten protections for seniors

sheinz@mifa.org (Sally Jones Heinz) — Wed, 7 May 2025 14:26:08 -0500

“A vital program for seniors faces elimination in a preliminary federal budget — a decision that, if approved by Congress, would leave our most vulnerable elders without advocates during their most critical time of need.”

Opinion: MIFA lost a staff leader with superpowers

sheinz@mifa.org (Sally Jones Heinz) — Thu, 1 Apr 2021 08:51:28 -0500

Phyllis Phillips was a great boss and co-worker, but her real superpower was her network of connections across the city, which she would tap fearlessly to get as many clients as possible the help they needed.

At MIFA, 'We had to get the meals out'

sheinz@mifa.org (Sally Jones Heinz) — Fri, 17 Apr 2020 04:00:04 -0500

How could we continue to deliver MIFA Meals on Wheels, a service that, by design, is face-to-face, during social isolation? Our answer stretched our imaginations and our capacity.

Virus throws a wrench in MIFA's senior meal delivery system

sheinz@mifa.org (Sally Jones Heinz) — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 06:38:53 -0500

We will soon stop daily deliveries to protect both our clients and our volunteers and staff. That’s why we’re working now to get as many frozen and shelf-stable meals into seniors’ homes as we can, in case a day comes when we can’t deliver at all.

With Meals on Wheels, results are real

sheinz@mifa.org (Sally Jones Heinz) — Tue, 24 Dec 2019 10:47:07 -0600

For many of the 1,200 homebound seniors served by MIFA each weekday, the volunteer who delivers the meal is the client’s only human contact in a day.

Ms. Jean lived on a corner outdoors, providing a gift to her neighborhood

sheinz@mifa.org (Sally Jones Heinz) — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 04:00:02 -0500

Almost as if by a magnetic force, residents were drawn to Ms. Jean. The few gifts she would accept – a hamburger, a blanket, a bag of cherries – were small. But the gift she gave was enormous: She activated compassion and drew her neighborhood closer together.