Lack of Funding Causes Adult Center's Closure

will close its doors for good today after several agencies cut funding towards the center in recent months.

Community relations director Sheleka Carter said the center, located at 290 Broadmoor Blvd., has been struggling to pay rent after budget cuts sparked a decrease in funding from agencies such as Alameda County's Area Agency on Aging, the City of San Leandro and The Robert and Lois Braddock Charitable Foundation.

For 30 years, the center has provided adult day care services to seniors suffering from Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, strokes and other physical and mental ailments. From cooking to physical exercise, many activities were offered to clients for about $40 a day according to Carter.

"It was very affordable," she said.

The closure will affect 40 clients, six full-time staff and two avid volunteers.

Volunteer Kenneth Elsasser, a man suffering from autism, has been volunteering at the center for more than 20 years according to Carter.

"He was the first person I thought of when we found out we'd be closing," she said. "He has not missed one day, even when his father died. He's just a really dedicated volunteer."

Carter said she believes San Leandro as a whole will be impacted by the closure due to the convenient location of the facility and the affordable services it offered its clients.

"For the residents in this vacinity, it's an older population, so a lot of clients are from this area," she said.