Martha Daniels moves at a slower pace these days—the pains of growing older and lingering back problems have that effect. Though she slowly steps through her two-bedroom apartment in west Houston, her voice and laughter fill the halls. At 62, she’s a vivacious woman who shares stories with anyone who will listen.

She’s part fighting New Orleanian, a Louisiana native who was displaced after losing everything to Hurricane Katrina, and part humble Texan, a woman who’s thankful for each breath she takes and meal she eats.

Because the way Martha Daniels sees it, she wouldn’t be alive after suffering a heart attack if it wasn’t for Meals on Wheels, a program that feeds and assists millions of older Americans in need.

It’s one of the programs that would suffer under President Trump’s proposed budget, which aims to cut funding to education, environmental protection and the housing department, which includes the community development block grants that help fund Meals on Wheels programs across the United States.

Those cuts could impact the Houston program’s $8.5 million annual budget, more than half of which comes from federal funding, to help feed 4,000 seniors each weekday, spanning from Katy to Baytown, Galveston to The Woodlands. It’s troubling news for a program that hopes to expand its reach and help more seniors. Sonya Harrison doesn’t deal with policy or crunching numbers. She’s been on the streets delivering meals the past three years for Meals on Wheels. Harrison has a kind voice and doesn’t complain when hauling ice chests full of food to her truck. She’s at the Meals on Wheels office every weekday at 7 a.m., prepping bags filled with milk, bread and other food staples, or loading the hot box in her truck with the day’s meal.

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