Struggling senior program to stay open

BARSTOW • Lunch was over at Elder Haven adult day care center Friday when staff broke out the bingo cards. Diane Martin, an employee, called out the numbers and after about 20 minutes of placing chips on numbers, client Barbara Rucker won.

Elder Haven offers a free place for seniors to play games, go on field trips, eat lunch and socialize with other people their own age. But due to the poor economy and dwindling grant donations, Elder Haven almost closed its doors, said Dorene Millar, the program’s office administrator. Elder Haven started in 2004, but without a $10,000 grant from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Foundation, the program may not have made it to 2010, according to Millar.

“The money we were getting on grants just wasn’t enough, and with the economy the way it is some of the grants have been cut,” she said. “Even with the few clients (we have) it takes a lot of money to run the program.”

This year the program’s budget was more than $60,000. The money goes toward employees salaries, which range from $8 an hour to $10 an hour, Millar said. Elder Haven pays about $200 a month in utility bills. And before meals for its clients were donated to them by the Barstow Senior Center, the program paid about $600 a month for them. The program will even purchase dial-a-ride vouchers for their clients, Millar said. Currently 10 seniors spend their time at Elder Haven. The program can serve up to 15.  

According to Millar, when she realized that the Elder Haven program may not see the new year, she considered cutting the program’s hours and doing away with the meal program. The program lost a staff member and the existing employees lost one hour of pay a day.

“We were doing all we could,” she said. “When you depend on grants and donations there are not a lot of options. The economy (has been) hard on any non-profit organization.”

With Elder Haven in danger of shutting down, board member Roger Martin, who is Diane Martin’s husband and has worked at BNSF for 37 years, took it upon himself to seek grant money from the railroad. BNSF presented the check to Elder Haven on Thursday.

“I love to give back, I always have,” he said. “With the seniors, it’s our turn (to help).”

With BNSF’s grant the program was able to hire a third employee, Millar said. Even though Millar still works only four hours a day, the employees have their lost hour of pay back.

Before Rucker called bingo, Ruth James, the program’s newest employee helped Mary Chaparro and Ramona Mora with their bingo cards.

“(The grant) kept us open,” she said.

 Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com