After a special meeting on Monday, November 7th, the Board of Directors of Services for Seniors in Brown and Sibley Counties voted unanimously to cease services on December 31, 2011, with complete shut down to be completed by January 31, 2012. The decision to discontinue this program comes because of a lack of funding and community support.

Services for Seniors is the collaboration of two organizations formerly known as Sibley County Faith in Action and Volunteers for Seniors servingBrownCounty. This will end a nine year run for this non-profit that worked to provide older adults and their caregivers a connection to volunteers, services and resources to keep them living independently for as long as safely possible.

Executive Director, Tami Stadtherr said “We are extremely saddened by this decision, but we realize that without financial support from the communities and the lack of grants that are available to rural counties like ours, we can no longer survive. I am hoping that local churches will pick up where we left off, as there will be a great need for older adults, now and in the next 20 years.”

Services for Seniors will continue with all services, except for rides, until December 31st. They will cease out of town travel services on November 30th. They also will not be accepting any new clients, but will have a resource list available to anyone that needs services. And along with not accepting new clients, as of November 8th, they will no longer accept any donations.

Stadtherr, and Caregiver Consultant, Julie Terrell want to thank all who were a part of this organization, especially the Board of Directors, volunteers, the staff of Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging and all that financially supported our cause over the years. “You have all helped make a difference in the lives of many elderly and disabled adults.”