LEEPER, Pa. (EYT) — The Clarion Area Agency on Aging’s (CAAA) senior center in rural Leeper was slated to close on Saturday, December 31. That closure date has been pushed back by three months.
Pictured above: Participants at the Leeper Senior Center flashing their style for Spirit Week in September 2022. Credit: Clarion County Senior Centers/Facebook.)
In a letter sent to participants of the Leeper Senior Center on December 14, Executive Director Marcella Dill cited the departure of the center’s manager, in addition to participants’ resistance to utilize any programming beyond just playing cards, as the reason for the closure.
“The manager for that center resigned in November,” said Dill in an interview with exploreClarion.com. “Our three part-time staff and our senior services director have been trying to manage five senior centers in Clarion County since then.”
Each county in the Commonwealth is required to have an Agency on Aging. The CAAA is funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Aging. They require the CAAA, to have an annual plan that conforms to the mission of the Department, according to Dill.
In her December 14th letter, Dill said that she stated to participants at the center, “‘If your only interest at the center is to play cards, then we have a problem,'” She said, “The Leeper participants replied, ‘Well then, we have a problem.'”
“Historically, the Leeper participants’ only request has been to play cards. We’re fine with cards, and they play cards every week, but the senior center can’t be solely about playing cards,” said Dill. “That’s where there’s a rub that we’re trying to resolve. We’re trying to keep the center open, but that means being open to the senior center programming that’s going on across the entire state of Pennsylvania.”
According to Dill, a typical senior center run by one of the state’s 67 aging agencies “welcomes guest speakers, has health and wellness programs, has lifelong learning programs. They volunteer, they fund-raise, they go on field trips—even out of state. It’s supposed to be a place where people’s social, emotional, and nutritional needs are met. That sort of thing.”
That’s exactly what is happening at the county’s other four senior centers, Dill explained.
There has been some resistance to that in Leeper, according to Dill. She says she’s asking the participants to allow the center to offer all the programs it’s intended to offer.
Three-Month Plan
“The Leeper Center participants have been informed that it will stay open for three more months with the hope that it will function as a senior center is supposed to,” Dill explained.
A major part of the plan to keep the Leeper center open is to assign the duties of the center’s manager to Samantha Schrecengost, who is the director of all five of the county’s senior centers. Dill hopes that three months will give the CAAA time to find a permanent manager for the center and resolve the other concerns.
They’re currently on the hunt for a new manager.
“There aren’t a lot of prerequisites for the job. It’s primarily being around older adults, helping them with different programming,” said Dill. “All of our senior center staff are certified in various health and wellness programs like Tai Chi and Exercise Bingo. So, applicants would have to be willing to get some of that training.”
Applicants need a driver’s license and a high school diploma or GED certificate. They need to be able to do some administrative paperwork required by the Department of Aging, and they need to be fun-loving and enjoy making people smile.
Dill says organizational skills are important, and the right applicant will need to be able to reach out to others in the community to bring people into the center to teach about different things, like understanding dementia, gardening, and chair exercises.
Anyone interested in applying for the position is encouraged to send their resume to [email protected], or to call the agency at 814-226-4640.
Plan B
If the Leeper center ends up closing, county seniors will have options.
The CAAA currently operates five senior centers in Clarion County: the Main Street Senior Center, the Leeper Senior Center, the Rimersburg Senior Center, the Knox Senior Center, and the New Bethlehem Senior Center.
Every older adult in Clarion County is welcome to go to any center no matter where they live in the county and are offered complimentary transportation.
A Preference for Keeping the Leeper Center Open
Having an operating center in rural communities like Leeper, where only about 10 participants are currently served, is Dill’s first choice.
But, she says, the center needs to be in line with what the Department of Aging requires of CAAA. She hopes by offering the same services available at the county’s other four centers, more seniors in the area will feel the pull to avail themselves of the Leeper center’s offerings.
“We’re going to work with them to see if we can get the issues resolved, and hopefully, that senior center will stay in Leeper for a long time to come and be a positive place for the community to come together and make sure we’re meeting the needs of the older adults there.”
