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BERRYVILLE, Ark. (KY3) – Changes could be coming to senior centers in northwest Arkansas after a funding crisis threatened operations.

The organization Our Healthy Communities works with the Area Agency on Aging of northwest Arkansas to operate senior centers in Benton, Madison, and Carroll counties, but OHC leaders said their programs are in jeopardy.

The government shutdown caused funding delays in November, and rising food and operating costs only made that struggle more intense.

Now, OHC executive director Susan Moore is raising awareness for what these centers can do.

“It gives the seniors a place to go for socialization, for food,” Moore said. “We offer transportation. We provide Meals on Wheels, so that’s a very important program for senior centers and the seniors that we serve, because really, we see a lot of times that may be the only meal they receive in a day is what they get from our centers. It’s also a welfare check for our Meals on Wheels clients.”

The Carroll County Senior Center in Berryville has been holding fundraisers with the community, but even for those who can’t donate monetarily, donating time is another way to raise awareness and keep these centers going.

“Just give at your local senior center,” said Moore, “wherever that may be. I would hope and pray that senior services would never go away because it’s a much-needed service for the seniors.”

Despite what a previous Facebook post by OHC said, Moore says the senior centers would likely not close if they lost funding. Still, control would be handed over to the Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Arkansas.

If this does happen, Moore says they will ensure there is no interruption of service because she recognizes the many ways these resources are vital.

“Whether you’re in your 20s or you’re in your 40s,” she said, “you have parents out there, you have grandparents out there that are aging, and so think of it as a service to your grandparents and what that means to them and help keeping them in their home and out of an institutional facility. I would just look at it as how it would impact your grandma or your grandpa.”

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Michael R. Wickline

mwickline@adgnewsroom.com

Mike Wickline covers state politics, and he has covered the state Legislature for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette since November 2000. He previously spent several years covering the Idaho Legislature for the Lewiston Morning Tribune.