ALEDO, Illinois — The Mercer County Senior Center could close its doors at the end of the month if they don't receive funds owed to them by the State of Illinois.
The center receives monthly payments from the state, but Executive Director Kim Schaefer said they haven't received one since June. She was told it was because of delays on the State Fiscal Year Rollover.
"Every year we go through something like this," she said. "This year was the worst because we also had what we call a one-time grant come down to us, which is carryover funding, because fiscal year '23 budget that we initially got was wrong, basically. It was an $18,000 error that needed to be corrected. We had to spend that in order to get that corrected. That said, we did that, but that removed any of my reserves."
Between that grant fund, the missing monthly payments and ARPA funds that are owed, Schaefer said the center is owed $61,000.
"I'm losing sleep right now because I'm so worried about my county and my community members," Schaefer said. "There are so many that come through these doors that I know now after eight and a half years that are almost like family. I know their names. I know what's going on in their lives."
Next year, the Mercer County Senior Center will celebrate its 50th anniversary. It services 4,412 people, about a quarter of the county's population.
"We do a lot here and the most important is every day we affect one person's life," Schaefer said. "If you affect one person's life each day, that's what truly matters."
As of this week, she's been told funds were distributed to the comptroller. It gives her hope, but there's still so much uncertainty.
"I don't know when that'll come," she said. "I'm praying that it's going to be just in the nick of time, because 10/31 of this month, if I do not have that correct funding, I will close the doors. I will take our last reserve, from an endowment that is very small, and pay off our line of credit."
She called the state's delay "unacceptable." If the payments are received after she closes the center's doors, it could be complicated.
"In a grant world, it's tough," Schaefer said. "Because if you're not doing the work and proving that you're doing it, then you will not get your reimbursements back. So I will still lose funding for the days I closed, because I can't prove that we did the work. And so it's a catch-22 there."
If the center is able to remain open, she's looking at ways to implement safety measures so something like this doesn't happen again. That could mean increasing the center's line of credit or asking for more county support. Even now, she's asking for community members to donate if they can.