Local Healthcare Non-Profit Faces Closure

The announcement earlier this week read, “On behalf of the Peachtree Christian Health (PCH) Board of Directors, it is with a heavy heart we must share that we have had to make the very difficult decision to permanently close our center due to financial unsustainability.” Without a miracle of procuring $500,000 in donations by Thanksgiving Day through a “Save Our Center Fund”, PCH will no longer provide vital support to older adults living with dementia and desperately-needed respite to their caregivers.

Like countless other small businesses that have closed due to insurmountable financial hardships, the Duluth nonprofit has faced far-reaching ramifications from the COVID-19 pandemic. Their extended closure in 2020 at the onset of the pandemic was a major setback that forced them to try everything possible to bridge operations and regroup. They applied for and received multiple federal subsidies and numerous other private grants and donations, as well as caregiver respite and transportation vouchers, and scholarship funds to offset operational expenses and lessen caregivers’ financial burden. In addition to becoming a Medicaid Waiver and Veterans Administration provider, PCH strategically aligned with a wealth of community partners and colleges for joint programming and referrals to serve and attract new participants. Despite all efforts, they simply are not able to increase their cashflow and grow their participant census fast enough to subsist into 2023.

Anne Mancini shares, “This decision has truly been heartbreaking and was reached after much prayer and with immense compassion for everyone we have the privilege to work with and serve. We need an immediate miracle from our community at large to save our center and continue crucial services to our community. Tragically, dementia is the 4th leading cause of death in Gwinnett County. With over 140,000 Georgians living with Alzheimer’s disease, tens of thousands more experiencing other forms of dementia, and 40% of caregivers dying before their care recipients, our center’s closure is a major setback for the county that is home to over 106,000 people age 65 and older.”

As the caregivers reeled with the news of the closure, most weren’t sure what their next steps will be and literally pleaded for recourse to the closure decision. Mancini explains, “Many of those we serve are living with dementia and are past the point of acceptance at other traditional day centers. Our center is the only one in Georgia that offers the level of medical and personal care necessary for those in more advance stages. Our services have proven to slow the progression of dementia, provide much-needed respite for caregivers, and allow our families to be able to keep their loved ones at home, delaying their need for full-time, residential dementia care.”

Jené Morché, caregiver to her 98-year-old mother Lee Weidman shares, “I was completely devastated when I heard the news that PCH was closing. My mom started attending the first week they opened their doors. They have enriched her life in so many ways. When you are 98 years old, all you seem to do is lose your friends, family, physical abilities, and the feeling of being useful and helpful. PCH was the one bright spot in her life where she gained friends, confidence, joy and love from so many people. She’s felt needed and useful again. Before PCH, I had a very hard time getting her out of bed and dressed each day. Now she’s excited to get up and start her day. She comes back from PCH and tells us, ‘They are such good people there. They treat me so well, and are always telling me they love me.’” Morché saw her mom struggling with depression for the first time in her life in her mid-nineties. It was then they sought out care for her at PCH. She says, “That all went away because of the program and its amazing staff and volunteers at Peachtree Christian Health. Now that they are closing their doors, I am heartbroken for my mom, the tireless staff and all the participants whose lives are enriched by their time spent at PCH. I truly could cry at the thought of how this will negatively affect my mom’s future. I know I won’t be able to find another program to care for her the way they do at Peachtree Christian Health. She will miss the dancing, singing, creativity, hugs, friendship and love she gets every time she walks through those doors.”

Dozens of testimonies like Morché’s are pouring in as participants and their families absorb the news. Priscilla’s daughter April says, “PCH has been a life saver for me and mom. They have given my mom a place to be around others and to continue to remain social all while giving me the opportunity to work and do errands without worrying about my mom.” Sung John’s daughter says, “PCH has provided so much support to my family. Not just for the happiness of my father, but also my mother. She sees all the benefits of PCH in my dad but also their relationship, not just her break from constant, daily support.” Barbara’s daughter Jennifer shares, “This facility made it so Mom could continue to live in her own home. We can never express our sincere appreciation to the staff at PCH. We are devastated that they are closing. We don't know where we are going to have to place Mom now.”

PCH has served the Gwinnett community for 22 years. They opened first as an in-patient hospice and then transitioned in 2019 to the current adult day health model. The center had transitioned and reopened just months before the pandemic hit, and it was a hard blow. Mancini tells, “Our participants were the most vulnerable during the pandemic and many were too medically fragile to return too quickly. The loss of revenue during the shutdown and the need for costly protection measures to reopen and continue to protect them even now have simply drained our reserves and pushed our budget to the brink.”

With an outstanding construction loan, a negative profit-loss ratio, and a client base that is constantly transitioning out due to health decline, Mancini says, “We’ve truly done everything we know to do to recover. All we can do now is pray for a miracle by Thanksgiving Day.” Mancini, along with her board, staff, volunteers, caregivers, participants, donors and community partners have full faith God can deliver just that. Mancini says, “We have watched God deliver miracles among us again and again. We trust He is in the middle of this chaos and hold out hope there is an angel among us that can turn this decision around. If not, God will provide for our families, our staff, and our community according to His will.”

As a nonprofit, PCH is committed to walk out their charitable mission until the final day. The board has voted to extend all remaining scholarship funds, as well as their inventory of personal care supplies, to the families they are currently serving to help relieve some of their financial and care burden during this transition time. Mancini explains, “Our donors gave to us with the intent to serve and care for our families and we intend to walk out our mission and commitment to them until the very end.” The doors are scheduled to close for the last time on Friday, December 23, 2022 at 5:30 p.m.

If there are donors in the community that would like to learn more about PCH and what’s necessary to prevent this closure, please contact Anne Mancini at 770-624-2727, email her at amancini@pchlec.org, or make a direct donation by Thanksgiving Day to the “Save Our Center” fund at https://bit.ly/SavePCH.