How it works
Every route is a meal and a check on someone living alone
Hot lunch, five days a week
Drivers deliver a prepared hot lunch on a set weekday route. Breakfast bags, weekend meals and shelf-stable emergency boxes fill the gaps around it.
A daily safety check
The driver is often the only person a client sees that day. If no one answers the door, staff follow up. Last year that led to 1,253 social service interventions.
Support beyond the meal
Case staff connect seniors with benefits, home repair referrals, pet food through Animeals and wellness checks. In Galveston County, every client also receives two in-person wellness visits.
Nov. 23 to 25
Thanksgiving with Meals on Wheels
Three days of packing and delivering a holiday meal to homebound seniors across Harris and Galveston counties. For many of the people on our routes, the driver at the door is the only visitor they will have that week.
Long supported by NRG and Reliant, whose crews help with preparation.
Holiday Project
Meals on Wheels Annual Holiday Project
Winter can leave homebound seniors isolated and cut off from meals. Sponsor holiday gifts and shelf-stable winter meals, or assemble a gift bag, so every senior on our routes receives something special.
About the program
Nutritious daily meals and a wellness check, at no cost
Meals on Wheels is run by Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston (IM Houston) and was formerly called Meals on Wheels for Greater Houston. Looking for Meals on Wheels near you? Enter your ZIP code at the top of this page to see whether we deliver in your area, or call 713-533-4900.
IM Houston’s Meals on Wheels program serves nutritious daily meals and wellness checks to qualified seniors in Harris and Galveston counties. Each meal is designed and approved by a registered dietitian and meets the one-third Dietary Reference Intake recommended by the FDA. Meals are provided at no cost to seniors.
IM Houston delivers over 1.2 million meals to more than 6,000 seniors each year. 98% of our clients tell us Meals on Wheels helps them maintain or improve their health and remain independent in their own homes. Seniors with pets may sign up for our Animeals program to receive supplemental pet food. We are able to provide this service through a combination of government grants and private contributions.
Elaine Knight with Mary Locke on her Meals on Wheels route.
Who qualifies
Four things decide eligibility
To be eligible for IM Houston’s Meals on Wheels service, you must:
- Be sixty years of age or older
- Be homebound, meaning at home during the day
- Have a demonstrated need for nutrition assistance, such as mobility issues or income restrictions
- Live within our 111 ZIP code service area in Harris and Galveston counties
Questions? Call us at 713-533-4978.
If you meet the eligibility requirements, you may fill out our client intake form.
If your ZIP code is served by another Meals on Wheels provider, our ZIP search names them and links to their program, so you are not left to work it out.
Meals on Wheels is delivered across Harris and Galveston counties by several organizations with agreed territories. Source: IM Houston operations, April 27, 2026.
Galveston County
We run Meals on Wheels in Galveston County too
The island and the mainland: Texas City, La Marque, Dickinson, Santa Fe, League City, Jamaica Beach and Bolivar. The county program has its own office, its own routes and a deeper service model, including two in-person wellness checks per client each year.
It also has its own funding gap, and gifts made there stay there.
Campaigns and drives
More ways to help seniors beyond the route
Operation IMpact
Each year we deliver shelf-stable meals and emergency information to our seniors before storm season. Donate or join a volunteer delivery team.
About Operation IMpactHoliday gifts, winter meals and blankets
Assemble a holiday gift bag, sponsor winter meals or donate a blanket for a homebound senior.
See How to HelpTribute gifts
Honor or remember someone special with a gift that keeps meals on the route, and send them a card.
Make a Tribute GiftMeals on Wheels volunteer opportunities in Houston
Volunteer to deliver Meals on Wheels: what a shift involves
You pick up prepared meals at lunchtime, Monday through Friday, and hand-deliver them to seniors’ homes. Pickup is between 10:30 and 11 a.m. from one of ten hubs across Harris and Galveston counties. A route takes about an hour to an hour and a half.
After training you choose your own days. Most volunteers take the same day each week, every Wednesday or every Friday, because the senior on the other end comes to expect you.
What to bring
- Your own vehicle.
- Two small coolers, one for cold items and one for hot.
- Insulated bags, which we provide if you do not have your own.
Where you would pick up
Meals are collected from one of these ten hub sites. Choose whichever is closest to where you live or work.
- Midtown, 3202 San Jacinto Street, Houston, TX 77004
- Katy, Crossroads Community Church
- Energy Corridor, St. Thomas Presbyterian Church
- Barker Cypress, Emmanuel Episcopal Church
- The Heights, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
- Humble, Humble Area Assistance Ministries
- Friendswood, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Clear Lake, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Galveston County, Meals on Wheels for Galveston County HQ, La Marque
- Bolivar Peninsula, Crystal Beach Community Church
A faith community, business or any organization with a meeting space can host a hub site. If you can offer one, email volunteerinfo@imgh.org.
Fiscal year 2026
Meals on Wheels in numbers
July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. Every figure below is from our published FY26 infographic.
6,181
Seniors served, unduplicated
5,117 in Harris County, 1,064 in Galveston County1,200,606
Total meals served
100,050
Meals served monthly on average
22,845
Emergency shelf-stable meals delivered
100
ZIP codes reached in fiscal 2026
Of 111 assigned to us across Harris and Galveston counties; 17 added in FY2699%
Of seniors say the visits are important
98%
Of seniors say Meals on Wheels helps maintain their health
98%
Of seniors say Meals on Wheels keeps them independent
647
Seniors on the inquiry list at the end of June
36%
Decrease in wait list volume over FY25
20%
Increase in clients served over FY25
224,600
Delivery miles driven annually
155
Delivery routes serving our seniors
1,253
Social service interventions
9%
Of our seniors are military veterans
920
Seniors’ pets received Animeals
370
Volunteers delivered meals and Animeals
13,105
Hours donated by volunteers
12%
Of seniors served by volunteer drivers
$2,500
Provides services to one senior for one full year