Senior center faces closure due to lack of staff

RANDOLPH - Randolph’s Senior Center is set to close if they can’t hire a cook and a manager.

And the clock is ticking with a final date set for Monday, July 11.

“I’d do anything I could to keep it open,” said Joedy Sellon, the center’s board chairman. “We’re between a rock and a hard sport and don’t know what to do.”

The 90-year-old Randolph man has been the board chairman about as long as he’s been a senior citizen.

He still remembers the days when the senior center would serve daily noon meals and also an evening meal once per month, serving up to 100 people.

Over time, those people died and younger senior citizens are working longer into life or have moved from Randolph.

Currently, the center provides activities and a noon congregate meal as well as meal deliveries to about 20 people per day.

He doesn’t blame Senior Center employees for moving on. Jolee Burbach has worked as the center’s manager since Aug. 17. She said she can no longer work part-time with the majority of her wages going to daycare for her two children.

The center has been advertising for a new cook for more than a month with no applicants. Burbach’s position more recently became available and advertised.

A potential solution may be for Colonial Manor to provide daily noon meals. But Sellon thinks that option is not a viable solution especially in the long-term.

“I don’t think they’ll be able to, they’re short, too,” he said. “Everybody is hard up for help.”

Over the years, the senior center’s building has been upgraded with a new roof, new carpet and new entrances, as well as new equipment - deep freezes and refrigerators.

“To leave a big building set empty, it’s hard for me to see,” Sellon said.

The Area Agency on Aging will be meeting with the Randolph Senior Center Board June 30.