AC seniors rally for new senior center

Information from WYSH Radio

On Tuesday in Clinton, Anderson County seniors took their quest for a new Senior Center to the front steps of the Courthouse.

At 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 5, seniors convened in front of the Courthouse carrying signs indicating their desire for a new senior center and reminding county officials that they and their demands are not going anywhere.

Currently housed in a small facility in downtown Clinton, the Office on Aging—which serves as the de facto Senior Center—and the Council on Aging have been actively searching for a suitable building. A couple of months ago, they thought they had found a suitable location for a Senior Center, but that deal fell through when the rent turned out to be higher than the East Tennessee Human Resource Agency—or ETHRA—was willing to pay. ETHRA provides a significant portion of the Office’s budget.

Tuesday morning, Sharon Clapp, the vice president of the Council on Aging, told WHSH Radio in Clinton why they are taking their fight to the streets: “We want the county and the commissioners to realize and know that Anderson County needs a senior center, we need a building and they can provide that for us. We need all of the county’s seniors to contact their commissioners and let them know that we need a senior center in Anderson County.”

Clapp said that officials she has spoken with have said there is no money, or it would require a tax increase, which Clapp said is not the case.

When asked if she was satisfied with the answers she has received, Clapp replied quickly, “No. I think they just put us off…and think maybe if they ignore us, we will go away. We are not going away.”

Felicia Foust with the Office on Aging will be in the WYSH studio on Monday, May 11, to provide more information.