JOHNSTOWN —
The welcome signs are being hung out at the senior centers in Jackson Township and Ebensburg as the noon meals program at the Nanty Glo Senior Center comes to a close at year’s end.
Both centers are within six or seven miles of the Nanty Glo center, and officials at each hope the Nanty Glo seniors – averaging 35 or so a day – will look in their direction for a new home in which to socialize and enjoy a noon meal.
The Ebensburg center, at 209 N. Julian St., is holding two open house sessions this week in the hopes of attracting some of the Nanty Glo seniors.
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, potential newcomers are being welcomed. The open house will continue all day Wednesday, said site manager Tammy Monito.
The center also hopes to develop a memory book for the Nanty Glo seniors, a history book of sorts featuring photographs and memories of the members of the closed center.
“It will be like a scrapbook. It’s like they’re family,” she said.
The Nanty Glo center, one of nine that depend on state and federal funding through Cambria County, is being closed in an effort to diminish a looming deficit, the result of funding cuts coupled with changing senior needs.
Nanty Glo was chosen because it has the lowest number of participants – at 93 unduplicated in 2011-2012 – and is in close proximity to other centers, county Commissioner Douglas Lengenfelder said.
Many who come to Nanty Glo drive their own cars and likely would be able to go a little farther, he said.
The Jackson center is 5.5 miles from Nanty Glo while Ebensburg is 7.6 miles away, Lengenfelder said.
In addition, the county and the Area Agency on Aging are coordinating transportation for those living at Briar Court, the apartment complex for the elderly and disabled where the center has operated for a number of years.
Some residents of Nanty Glo are already members and active at the Jackson Township Senior Center, located in the former Vinco Elementary School on the 200 block of Adams Avenue, Mineral Point.
“We’ve always had Nanty Glo people,” said Jackson center President Frank Singel. “We have people from Vintondale, Belsano, Ebensburg, Colver, even Geistown, coming here.”
While all are welcome, Singel hopes some join with a spirit of volunteerism.
The center is active in a wide range of fundraising.
“We need volunteers. They’re really hard to come by these days,” he said.
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