MCSC Adult Day Program to be cut: Funding issues cited as cause

FAIRMONT, May 22, 2009 (The Times West Virginian - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- CIA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- The Marion County Senior Center Adult Day Program is being discontinued due to budget cuts.

The 303 Columbia St. facility will close its doors on Friday, May 29, said Jack Oliver, chairman of the board of directors of the Marion County Senior Citizens Inc.

Cutbacks in Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security and other funding prompted the decision, he added.

"We didn't have the funding for it," he said. "We had several setbacks in the last year or so. It was very difficult to get any funding for it, and without funding, we can't carry on a program that's losing money."

The small stone building, which had been a daycare center and then a church, was purchased by MCSC for about $120,000 ($85,000 to purchase and about $40,000 from the state for renovations) and opened as a day program for adults on April 18, 2008.

The respite program provides assistance for persons caring for disabled adults in the home and teaches those adults helpful skills for everyday life.

For years it had operated as Vintage Day Care at the YWCA, then was taken under the umbrella of MCSCI and met for a while at a local church.

Currently around 12 seniors use the program every day, some paying the full day's price, others paying on a sliding scale. That income doesn't cover the $5,000 it costs to run the program every month, Oliver said.

"We tried to get grants to purchase the building but ended up paying for it out of our own budget. It was a setback to do it that way."

Immediate plans are to put the building on the market.

Staff members are Tanya Grimsley, program director, and Jeff Baker, program assistant. As union members with longevity, they are eligible to "bump" other senior center employees, he said.

"It was not an easy decision to make," Oliver said. "This was one of the toughest struggles we had to deal with. It was not a cold-hearted decision.

"But you can't spend money you don't have."

The agency had applied for money from the Marion County Commission but was turned down, he said.

"They seemed to have turned us down because we had a little bit of an emergency fund for rainy day projects. In the past couple of years we've had a lot of rainy day projects. The commission decided that if we weren't broke, they would not give us the money.

"So, if you're not wise, you don't have a rainy day fund. But if you're wise and you do, you get penalized."

"The bulk of the money that goes to the senior center is for monies we provide services for. We need to use that money to provide that care. So if you have a program that serves about 15 people a day and costs $5,000 a month to run, it's not hard to decide where we have to cut back if we had to cut back. No funding ... a no-brainer."

"The decision had to be made. This was the only program that had no special funding," said Debbie Harvey, MCSC executive director. "We had a couple of budgets to cover part ot if, but we were having to use one whole complete budget to cover it, and we can't do that. We survive on federal, state and local funding, and donations.

"We sent an RN staff member to set up appointments to go into clients' homes to see if they're eligible for in-home services. Some accepted. Some went to other agencies, and some were not residents of Marion County. We did try to provide other options."

Grimsley said she and Baker were notified by letter last week of the closing.

'"We will have a celebration here on the last day for all volunteers and anybody who helped us along the way," she said.

"There are some programs that come into the home, but this offered (seniors) a chance to get out and socialize. The folks here felt like family. That will be gone."

E-mail Debra Minor Wilson at dwilson@timeswv.com.

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