The board statement said members are actively seeking an interim director.
“It is the board’s intention to do everything within our power to keep Central Connections open and operating to service the needs of the Middletown and surrounding senior community. As we make additional changes, we will do our best to keep you informed.
EARLIER: MIDDLETOWN — By the size of the crowd that attended a hastily scheduled meeting with Central Connections leaders, and the tone of their voices, members and former employees are upset by the direction the center is headed.
About 75 people packed the cafeteria Tuesday morning to meet with Diane Rodgers, executive director of Central Connections, and Rick Fishbaugh, board president, for about 90 minutes that was only cut short because it was time to serve lunch.
Those who spoke were upset that Central Connections no longer has a contract with Council on Aging of Southwestern Ohio to provide home-delivered meals and other social services to seniors.
Fishbaugh, as he told the Journal-News in an exclusive interview of Monday, said the center was serving 4,000 to 5,000 meals a week and losing about $1 per meal. He said the three-year contract with Council on Aging was set to expire this year. He said the center profited off the contract the first year, broke even the second year and was losing money this year.
Plus, he said, the cost of fuel also drove up the price of delivering the meals.
“Nothing was working in our favor,” said Fishbaugh, who earlier said Central Connections is trying to reorganize its finances and may file for bankruptcy.
Since Central Connections stopped delivering meals on Tuesday, one day after laying off 50 employees, First Presbyterian Church, 2910 Central Ave., is providing meals for seniors, said Paula Smith, director of communications for the Council on Aging.
She said the church will provide congregate meals from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The plan is for COA to find a permanent place for the meals to be served within a few weeks, Smith said.
Partners in Prime, Meals on Wheels Southwestern Ohio and Warren County Community Services have stepped in to cover all home-delivered meals to clients, according to Smith. Meals on Wheels will also provide meals for the seven congregate sites Central Connections previously served, she said.
“We don’t want people to think seniors will be left high and dry as a result of this and we anticipate minimal, if any, service disruptions,” Smith said in an e-mail to the Journal. “We’re committed to ensuring impacted older adults get the services they need.”
Smith said COA is working to connect transportation clients and clients receiving supportive services with new providers.
Rodgers said some on the center’s vehicles may be used to transport seniors to medical appointments for “a reasonable rate.”
Meanwhile, Fishbaugh said now that the center isn’t affiliated with COA, it will seek another company the center can contract with to provide home-delivered meals. He some of the employees who lost their jobs on Monday may be rehired if a new contract is signed.
One of those former employees, Denise Silva, who worked in the packaging room for two years, called eliminating home-delivered meals “a disservice” to the senior population. She said seniors depend on the meals and the social interaction the drivers provide.
“We put our people first,” she said. “We consider them family.”
When Rodgers was hired in 2021, she said the center had 600 members, but after the $1.5 million in renovations, the center has 2,790 members. On Monday, she walked around and talked to the 120 seniors who were using the facilities, she said.
Her message: “You will not be left stranded.”
Many of those in attendance blamed Rodgers for the financial troubles at the center. Instead of renovating the center, that money would have been better served caring for the seniors, they said.
Rodgers said if the center wanted to survive, it had to create an event center to attract outside business and generate revenue. She said the event center is booked through June 2024.
Others wondered how Central Connections, since it no longer provides meals or social services, can retain its 501(c)3 non-profit status. One person suggested that with the addition of a full bar and Bingo, Central Connections has turned into a Moose Lodge.
Two Middletown council members, Zack Ferrell and Rodney Muterspaw, and two Middletown police officers attended the meeting.
CENTRAL CONNECTIONS, COUNCIL ON AGING TROUBLES
Rick Fishbaugh, board president of Central Connections, said it canceled its contract with Council on Aging on Monday. Instead, Paula Smith, communications manager for COA, said the agency terminated the contract.
According to letters from the Council on Aging, obtained by the Journal-News, Central Connections has made several breaches of the agreement, including:
- Providing no response for a financial sustainability plan that was originally requested on June 2 by COA, and again requested by COA as part of the subsequent quality action plan;
- Providing no response or an incomplete response to the following items requested as part of the quality action plan: results from the most recently completed audit, statements from vendors on their letterhead that Central Connections is in good standing, a complete list of employees who have resigned or are leaving in addition to who are staying;
- Providing inadequate meal production and was unable to deliver services on June 16 and 19, 2023 due to staff work stoppage and unscheduled closures; missed deliveries on June 14, 2023 and June 15, 2023 without notifying the case manager or COA.
In a July 5 letter sent by certified mail, the COA said “immediate and sustained resolution of these breaches is vital so that COA can resume a productive relationship with Central Connections to serve home delivered meals to homebound older adults in the region.”
Dated July 24 and signed by Suzanne Burke, CEO Council on Aging, the letter was a “notice of termination” of Elderly Services Program Agreement for the provision of home delivered meals by and between Council on Aging of Southwestern Ohio and Central Connections.
The letter said Central Connections had 10 days to correct the breaches and since it didn’t, the contract was terminated.
“COA has now concluded that Central Connections is unable to provide consistent, quality service at a level that meets COA’s requirements,” the letter read.
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