About

Formed in 1898 as the Instructive District Nursing Association (IDNA), LifeCare Alliance was Columbus’ first in-home health care agency and Ohio’s first agency to provide visiting nurses and the second city in the nation to deliver meals.  LifeCare Alliance is a private, not-for-profit organization that provides a comprehensive array of health and nutrition services to older adults, chronically ill, and homebound residents in Franklin, Madison, and Delaware counties through its signature programs:

Meals-on-Wheels provide nourishing food, conversation and camaraderie to homebound older adults, people with disabilities and the chronically ill 365 days a year.
Visiting Nurse Program (Medicare/Medicaid certified) offers skilled care in the home to assist patients ecovering from an illness or surgery or managing chronic health conditions.

Help-at-Home provides assistance with daily living activities, homemakers, bathing, personal care, falls prevention, monitors and unmet client needs.

Project OpenHand-Columbus provides home-delivered nutritionally enriched meals to men, women and children living with HIV-AIDS in Central Ohio.

Columbus Cancer Clinic offers low-income, under-insured cancer patients with in-home services, medical supplies, equipment, medication assistance, and transportation and food supplements. It also offers prevention services, such as mammograms and cancer screenings.

Community Wellness Centers provides health care to older adults throughout Franklin County.   The centers are located in areas where the population is under-served, has limited access to health care and/or has limited financial resources.  

Volunteer Services - LifeCare Alliance offers a variety of volunteer opportunities.  Opportunities include, but are not limited to, delivering meals, serving clients at a dining center, delivering pantry items, stocking pantry shelves, providing pet care assistance, assisting an older adult with light housekeeping or running errands. In 2008, 6,000 volunteers contributed more than 120,000 hours and drove more than 337,000 miles.

Social Entrepreneurship - Recent trends in not-for-profit agencies indicate there are a greater number of charitable organizations that recognize the need to offset annual operating expenses through social entrepreneurship. LifeCare Alliance recognizes the need for self-sufficiency and is committed to further developing a stream of compatible fee-based programs to increase agency revenue to continue to assist all those in need.

LifeCare Alliance started L.A. Catering which offers full service off-site catering using the culinary expertise of LifeCare Alliance kitchen staff  working from the kitchen facility at 1699 West Mound Street.

Today, LifeCare Alliance operates two locations in Columbus, Ohio; the 1699 West Mound Street and the new Meal Distribution and Catering Facility at 670 Harmon Avenue.