A Return to Health

For one man, a dream deferred and then renewed, began with a simple meal delivery.

After a stay at Langley Memorial Hospital, the Langley resident returned home facing significant challenges. Living with vision loss, he struggled with malnutrition, isolation and limited social connections. Without a strong support network, everyday tasks became increasingly difficult, and he believed he was facing a lonely future.

When hospital social workers referred him to Langley Meals on Wheels’ Home from the Hospital program, supported through Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation’s Whatever It Takes Fund, he began receiving freshly prepared meals delivered to his home.

Over time, volunteers got to know him and learned about his love of rowing. Although he believed he would never reconnect with the sport, volunteers helped him re-establish contact with a local rowing club and assisted with transportation and other logistics.

Returning to rowing helped him regain confidence and independence.

His experience demonstrates how practical assistance during recovery can create lasting change, says Shannon Woykin, Executive Director of Langley Meals on Wheels.

Thanks to our donors, about 350 vulnerable patients received assistance last year, nearly double the number helped in 2024. Volunteers delivered 4,830 meals to patients recovering at home after a hospital stay, an increase of nearly 58 per cent over the previous year.

“Food is often how we begin a relationship with someone, but it is rarely where the story ends,” says Shannon. “In this case, a simple meal delivery relationship helped someone reconnect with activities they love, build new friendships and regain a sense of independence.”

Many patients leave the hospital with little or no support and face barriers that can make recovery difficult. For nearly half of those served, assistance continued beyond their initial recovery period.

“Those first meals do much more than provide nutrition,” says Shannon. “They create an opportunity to build trust and ensure no one feels they are facing recovery alone.”

Beyond meal delivery, the Whatever It Takes Fund helps patients obtain essential items and services needed to stabilize after hospitalization like basic clothing, children’s comfort items in the emergency department and bus tickets to return to work.

In 2025, the Whatever It Takes Fund helped provide transportation to medical appointments, clothing and personal care items, newborn supplies, temporary housing assistance and other essentials that allowed individuals and families to recover safely and with dignity at home.