Gas Prices Squeezing Seniors

When it comes to fixed incomes, Florida is ground zero, reports CBS News correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi.

No one knows that better than Hopal Morrison. She works for "Visiting Angels," checking in on the health of elderly patients across the state.

But lately, this "angel" wishes she could fly. Morrison drives 300 miles a day and pays for her own gas. It's killing her.

"That's why I work 20 hours a day," she says.

Alfonsi gave Morrison a ride. Morrison gave her an earful.

With gas prices up 50 cents a gallon from last year, it costs Morrison an extra $2,000 to cover the same route. "I'm a single mom. I have a kid in college," she says. "It adds up."

Morrison never used to ask clients to pay for her gas. But now she has to — and it hurts.

"They're like family," she says. "To ask them to reimburse you for gas, it's something they're not used to."

Coping with skyrocketing gas prices is particularly hard on seniors with fixed incomes. Some are cutting back on medicine. Others say they're eating less.

Fortunately, 91-year-old Delbert Osborne doesn't drive that much anymore. He relies on Meals on Wheels.

But Meals on Wheels is also in a squeeze. The organization relies on volunteer drivers, most of whom are retirees on fixed incomes — and there are dropouts every day.

"If someone doesn't pick up a route, that can be 15, 20, 25 people who go without food for that day," says Sara Owens, the executive director of Community Co-op Ministries.

That's why volunteers lik Myra Heil and Marilyn Lowe are tripling their routes. They know this is the only contact some seniors will have with anyone all day.

But rising gas prices could curb deliveries to once a week. That's a lonely road — one that clients such as Cyndi Osterhause don't want to go down. Says Osterhause, "I'd probably only eat once a week."