Seniors from three counties gather at the Parsons Senior Center to let elected officials know how important services provided by the senior centers are.
By Beth Christian Broschart
The Parsons Advocate
PARSONS – Three counties came together to meet with elected officials about funding concerns with senior centers, and to give those officials an idea of the many services provided by these centers. The gathering was hosted at the Parsons Senior Center along with seniors and senior center directors from Preston and Barbour Counties.
Roxanne Tuesing, director of the Tucker County Senior Center, said the meeting was driven by the fact that senior centers are one of the best kept secrets around.
“Not only do our own board of directors not really understand fully everything we do, but the county commissions do not have a clue,” Tuesing said. “We have been working for the last five years to educate legislators on the importance of senior programs and the impact our payrolls have on the economy.”
Tuesing said senior center are one of the top 10 employers in nearly every county in the state.
“We have a direct economic impact on the state in that we save money by keeping people out of nursing homes and in their homes longer,” Tuesing said. “We provide wonderful services that keep people healthier longer.”
Tuesing said in Tucker County, the mandated minimum wage increase will cost the senior center $56,000 additional over a year’s time.
“There is not one dime of additional funding that will come into our agency to cover that cost,” Tuesing said. “We are going to have to cut paper towels here and paper plates there. We are going to have to try to find pennies and dimes from different parts of the budget to make up that $56,000 we have to pay.”
Tuesing said the agency struggled last year with a minimum wage increase where no additional funding was made available. “This increase is bigger. Finding $56,000 additional funds in the budget is next to impossible without cutting something else.”
Elected officials in attendance include Tucker County Commissioner Lowell Moore; Senator Bob Williams, D-Taylor; Senator Dave Sypolt, R-Preston; Delegate Danny Wagner, R-Barbour; and Delegate Randy Smith, R-Preston.
