Stanwood Community & Senior Center asks Stanwood for money

Published 11:43 pm Tuesday, May 6, 2008

STANWOOD — Scaled-back programs at the Stanwood Community &Senior Center might be cut completely if the center can’t come up with thousands of dollars in emergency funding.

The Stanwood City Council is set to vote at its 7 p.m. Thursday meeting whether to give $30,000 to the ailing center, which was set back last year when United Way decreased its annual payments to the center from $56,000 to $26,000, center director Michelle Johnson said.

Johnson is not confident the City Council will approve the appropriation. At a meeting two weeks ago, council members didn’t seem interested when they voted to table discussion on the issue, she said.

“The whole $30,000 is critical,” Johnson said. “If we don’t get the $30,000, then we have to make choices about which programs we cut out completely.”

The center at 7430 276th St. NW provides activities and programs for people of all ages. The center also has 82 low-income apartment units.

To make ends meet, the center has curtailed several programs over the past year, including art programs for teens and wellness and exercise programs for seniors. A pair of full-time positions were reduced to part-time positions, and three workers — including the center’s only cook — were laid off.

Several programs, including youth summer programs, are in danger of being cut if the center can’t find more money, Johnson said.

“It’s been difficult to fill the gaps from losing that amount of funding,” Johnson said. “We’ve done lots of fundraisers, but obviously, you can’t replace that.”

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.

Meeting Thursday

The Stanwood City Council meeting is 7 p.m. Thursday at the Stanwood-Camano School District Administration Building at 26920 Pioneer Highway.