LUCERNE, Calif. – Following a local agency board’s decision last week to terminate a food provider contract with the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center, the center’s executive director said they are regrouping and planning to continue offering other services to the community.
Robert Clifton, the center’s director, said the center will remain open and carry on with current services, including food and classes, with the center board due to meet, regroup and discuss its plans for moving forward.
The board for the Area Agency on Aging for Lake and Mendocino Counties voted unanimously last Thursday to terminate its provider contract with the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center after it was listed as a “high risk” provider based on a state monitoring report, as Lake County News has reported.
The Area Agency on Aging Board said its other contracts were at risk if it didn’t act, and so voted for the contract termination, which goes into effect in 30 days from the Feb. 28 vote.
While there is an appeal process, Clifton said the center won’t appeal the Feb. 28 termination vote.
“What would be the point?” Clifton asked. “The people in that room had made up their minds based on bogus information.”
The “bogus” information Clifton alleged was used for the decision came from the state’s monitoring report, which said the center food program didn’t follow the proper guidelines.
Last week, Jonathan Crooks of the Lakeport Senior Center and Pat Grabham of the Live Oak Senior Center in Clearlake Oaks indicated that they would work to deliver meals to seniors who were served under Lucerne’s contract.
Area Agency on Aging Program Coordinator Mike Parkinson said the 2012-13 fiscal year contract with the senior center totaled $66,084, of which nearly $61,000 went to nutrition programs.
That totals a little over half of what it takes to currently run the center; Clifton said the center’s budget currently is running at about $10,000 to $11,000 a month. The center also is supported through donations and facility rentals.
While the contract loss is significant, Clifton said the center can run less expensively – at about $5,000 per month – if it’s not required to carry out the food programs under the Area Agency on Aging contract, including the Meals on Wheels program.
“Under this contract we had to charge people that were under 60 a certain price and then we had to give the food away if they were over 60 and didn't have the money,” said Clifton. “Now, instead of giving the food away, we'll charge.”
He said the center hasn’t lost its ability to do business, and that while they’re sad about no longer offering Meals on Wheels, they will still be providing high quality meals to community members.
Clifton said the center makes everything from scratch, and offers a variety of full course meals for about $4 or $5 per person. He said people who eat at the center – many of whom are not seniors – give great feedback on the food.
The day after the vote to terminate the center’s contract, Clifton said 14 people walked into the center at different times, asking how they could help and offering to volunteer.
“I’m feeling just bolstered by the community involvement that I’m getting here,” he said.
He said the center has worked hard over the past two years to pay off $30,000 in debt and renovate about 60 percent of the 1930s-era building, all of which was done with the community’s help.
Clifton said the center wants to continue to serve meals, hold fundraisers, host theatrical events, offer facilities for rent and educational classes, and provide other services for seniors and the community at large.
“We're optimistic,” he said.
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