The senior center was recently designated as an official evacuation center by the Local Emergency Planning Committee and hopes to use that designation to acquire funding for a back-up generator.
The Pleasant Senior Center is in the process of acquiring funds to complete major expansion and renovation projects and hopes to tie the purchase of a generator into the process. By teaming up with LEPC, the center could have a better shot at grant funding for emergency equipment, senior center Director Patricia Tindall said.
"By joining LEPC they could then give us a recommendation to get a grant for emergency preparedness money that we could apply toward a generator," Tindall said.
The senior center will not be an emergency shelter for the entire community, Tindall said. Rather, it will serve as a welcome center and information hub in case of an emergency.
A back-up generator will allow the center to keep lights on, have access to television, the Internet and phones, and remain heated during winter months.
The center would also still be able to provide meals to senior citizens. Often, the senior center lunch is the only hot meal some of the clients receive, Tindall said, so it's important to retain that service even in an emergency.
Another key role the center could play with a back-up generator is to act as a liaison with law enforcement to ensure home-bound clients are checked on and emergency contacts of those clients are notified.
The center could also be used as a base for the Red Cross to set up a meet-and-greet station in the case of an emergency (like a wildfire, for example).
Tindall said it is important to note the center cannot act as an overnight shelter as it does not have the necessary requirements like bathroom facilities (the center has toilet facilities).
"We are not allowed to have people stay the night," she said.
Tindall said she has received a quote for a generator for $60,000.[[In-content Ad]]
