County considers cutting support for senior center
November 19, 2009
By Tara Ballenger
King County Council will decide Nov. 19 whether to eliminate funding for the Mount Si Senior Center as part of the county’s plan to trim $6.5 million from its 2010 budget.
Carol Brame (left) and Chris Keeler play bingo at Mount Si Senior Center on Nov. 13. Brame and Keeler, both 66, met at the senior center six years ago and have been friends ever since. By Tara Ballenger
The cuts could mean a reduction in staff and operating hours, said Ruth Tolmasoff, director of the center.
“Last year they proposed cutting all the senior centers by 50 percent, but decided to keep (support) to the ones that served large rural and unincorporated areas, like ours,” Tolmasoff said. “Fifty percent was bad enough, but this will be devastating.”
Mount Si Senior Center started in 1977 as a grass roots effort led by seniors and endorsed by North Bend and Snoqualmie. It offers classes, activities, trips, transportation and free hot meals to seniors five days a week. The center employs two full-time staff members and serves between 750 and 1,000 people each year.
County executive Kurt Triplett originally proposed that the $6.5 million be saved through imposing a 10-day furlough on the county’s labor unions, but the unions refused, said Mark Melroy, legislative analyst for the council.
The labor unions refused, so Triplett drafted a new plan, including cutting county funding to the Highline and Mount Si Senior Centers, he said.
If the money is reinstated, the council will have to come up with a new way to trim $49,000 from an already-strained budget, Melroy said
“We all know that the county is having budget problems right now but cutting funds to the most vulnerable population is not the way to make up funds,” Tolmasoff said.
As the baby boomers move closer to old age, the need for senior centers and the services they offer will rise, not decline, she said.
“To destroy the safety net when we’re facing this increase doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” Tolmasoff said. She added that socialization and getting out of the house are two important factors of healthy aging, and the center offers both those things to area residents.
For 2010, the center needs $285,000 to keep services, staff and hours at their current levels, she said. So far in 2009, the center’s thrift store has brought in $63,000 and the cities of North Bend and Snoqualmie give money to the center each year. Without the $49,000 from the county, however, there would need to be a reduction in hours and a major fundraising campaign, which might have limited success in a recession, Tolmasoff said.
Sixty-six-year-old Carol Brame and Chris Keeler said they hope it doesn’t come to that. The two met six years ago at the center’s bingo night and are now close friends.
“I talked her into going to the quilting club with me,” said Keeler as she colored in a square on her bingo sheet at the senior center. “New friends are the best part of this place.”
“The senior center really does a lot to help older people, especially with transportation,” said Brame, who managed the Cascade Park Senior Apartments in North Bend before retiring in January. She also mentioned the part-time advocate that the center employs, which helps seniors navigate complex issues like Medicaid, Social Security payments and lease agreements. “It would be a huge loss to the community to lose it.”
Comments
Got something to say?
