Plans for the Emporia Senior Center’s soft reopening are being updated.
President and CEO Ian Boyd says the facility will hold a Coffee and Chat on Nov. 21 from 9:30-10:30 am. Bingo and exercise are not on the schedule at this time.
Next week is the Senior Center’s election week, so it will be open from 9-10 am almost all next week. The facility will be closed Tuesday.
Boyd says services and activities remain suspended while deep cleaning and repairs are made.
The Senior Center Board of Directors closed the facility Nov. 1 and laid off all its staff, including Boyd, effective Nov. 2 with the center struggling financially for several years due to low attendance, COVID-19-related closures, equipment failures and related costs, inflation and the embezzlement of over $100,000 from prior director Lannie Lyman. Boyd has remained on the job in a volunteer role.
The board is considering all avenues to avoid dissolving the agency, including selling or leasing the property or mortgaging the park just east of the facility.
Boyd says two anonymous donors have combined to donate $50,000 since the board’s decision, and the donation total since the Nov. 1 emergency meeting is approaching $51,000 — not counting two $500 pledges possibly added to the total next week. The Senior Center is working to raise another $50,000 to meet a range of immediate needs. Residents interested in donating can call the Senior Center at 620-343-3160.
