Senior Services

No, we are not shutting down the senior centers.

The Skagit County Commissioners have not considered closing down the senior centers or reducing senior programs. The Commissioners feel strongly senior centers should remain open, and are willing to partner to continue current services.

The centers provide a sense of belonging to our seniors and offer opportunities to share meals, participate in exercise classes, and engage in many other activities. Without the County’s support of senior centers, it is likely these opportunities would not be offered in our community.

The Mount Vernon Senior Center is located in a 100-year-old schoolhouse that has been serving as the senior facility since 1973. Unfortunately, the building is no longer suitable for its purpose. It was never designed with the needs of older adults in mind, and decades of wear have left the building with significant structural and operational deficiencies.

Even if extensive and costly renovations were pursued, the building would still fall short of providing the space necessary to serve Mount Vernon’s growing senior population. Program participants and staff have consistently voiced concerns that the Center has already outgrown its capacity, and the status quo is simply not sustainable.

Skagit County and the City of Mount Vernon worked extensively on what a partnership between the MV Senior Center and the Commons would look like as the City built the new space. The library includes a commercial kitchen and community meeting room space which could have been a fit for the needs of local seniors.

The City was hoping for an integrated library and community center model which would have reduced dedicated programming exclusively for seniors. Skagit County was concerned with the proposed service model, and the impacts it may have on the growing senior population.

Additionally, there were potential issues with Meals on Wheels driver access to the library kitchen and the City requested a partnership of a $6M capital investment. The capital investment would have been used to increase the footprint of the library to accommodate the breadth of senior center programming requested by the center clientele.

Skagit County has heard from the senior center community that they wish to keep the existing senior programming as much as possible in a new space, so ultimately it was decided the vision of relocating to the library was not aligned with what the senior center community needs.

The only source of funding that can be used to pay for the senior nutrition program is the general fund. Approximately 75% of the general fund is allocated to public safety, including the courts and law enforcement. The other 25% must fund all county operations not covered by other sources of revenue or grants.

Nearly all county services, including roads, behavioral health, veteran services, and homelessness support, are funded with dollars that are restricted for their intended use so they cannot be reallocated to senior services.

Fundraising has been a consistent source of support for the program over the last five decades; however, our fundraising efforts are not enough to keep up with the rising demand for seniors meals. We believe a nonprofit is better suited to effectively fundraise.

The costs of food, supplies, and salaries increase each year. Additionally, there is a growing number of seniors in need of meal deliveries of congregate meals. In 2024, we served over 5,600 seniors compared to less than 4,000 seniors in 2016.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by 2030, 30% of the total population in Mount Vernon will be aged 65 and older. This aging population indicates that the demand for senior services and meals will continue to grow.