Central Appalachia Empowerment Zone
(CAEZ) held their monthly Board meeting on May 5th
beginning at 6pm. Due to Corona Beer Bug issues, the
gathering was held via the Zoom teleconferencing
website. There are issues with using such a program but
for the most part, Zoom worked for the entire 90 minute
not so public, meeting. Two issues hurt the concept.
One, some of the CAEZ Boardsters do not have enough
bandwidth to support such stuff or they are not into the
computer age. That second issue is, public meetings are
suppose to be open for the public. Currently, the public
is left out of the meeting.
CAEZ has had little operations money for several years. A couple years back something slipped out. Back then during a General membership meeting, it came to light, they are so poor, they have been unable to pay for mandatory annual audits. During normal Board discussions, their poverty status shows up any time it came to spending on a program or upgrading any thing. That showed up because, all discussion was halted dead in their tracks.
Attempts have been made to keep their financials and financial posture secret. During what should be normal business talk, as soon as money is mentioned, everything was hushed up. Don't let the public know has been the attitude of the Director and some Boardsters.
CAEZ Director Connie Lupardus (Big Lup to many) must have been thinking, if we don't talk about this, it will just go away. Like most of her management skills, the secrecy is poorly thought thru. For Big Lup, that being frugal with the truth has done nothing but bring down the agency.
Only during the last four Board meetings has there been ANY mention of serious financial collapse the non profit agency is facing. The first mention came a couple months back when the CAEZ Chair acknowledged, the future of the grassroots organization was in financial jeopardy.
Let's fast forward to the May 5th meeting where Clayberry reps Fran King, Connie Kinder and Linda Rhodes were once again absent from duty.
For the first time ever, CAEZ Chair Michael Martin was upfront with the truth. At the onset, before anything else, Martin told his Board, he had lost sleep over finances. He brought up the topic of borrowing (loans) to pay basic expenses like utilities, insurance, and insurance. Martin, "... we owe bills and are unable to pay them.. We have no non committed funds..."
There was silence on the internet. After years of the Director telling them, we're holding our own, the Chair's words must have been shocking for em.
CAEZ has a bunch of expenses just to keep the doors open. Stuff like , a bunch of telephone lines, several power bills and daycare operation bills, add up quickly. There are three electric service bills at the Valley Fork Grade School which serves as their office space.
On the other side, CAEZ does receive little bits of income from several sources. Examples include:
Under normal conditions, they operate a daycare center which covers at least some of the overhead expenses.
They own (mortgaged) some rental units which brings in some direct income and administrative fees.
The Dundon campground and lodge adds a little bit more. With proper management, the campground operation could, should, generate a ton of revenue.
Already crippled by few funds, the current Corona Bug pandemic has put the brakes on the daycare business which closed its doors a couple months ago and the campground.
Even during tough times, every agency has to operate above board... between the legal lines. A suggestion came up that appears to blur those lawful lines.
Anytime you use Federal $$$, you have to follow their many rules. Referring to the apartments they own, the Fed's require CAEZ to maintain a reserve account to cover maintenance and equipment (roofs for instance) repairs / replacement. Dipping into those funds for other purposes, that's a big no no.
CAEZ is considering some kind of work around where $59K in reserve accounts could be tapped into. If such an approach is employed, bet you will be reading about the CAEZ in regional news outlets.
Using loan $$$ for everyday expenses is a sure fire way to kill any organization.
Kiddie Patch day care manager Stephanie Adkins brought to the board, a need to shut down that operation on a more permanent basis. Brought up: there are only two kids ready to come back, a lack of personal protection stuff, an unwillingness by parents to put their brats in a group setting, and and and, Ms Adkins has already resigned her position at the day care center.
Motion was made and passed to close Kiddie Patch til sometime down the road. There goes one of the income streams for CAEZ.
Some rental income remains. Like, most of the units at Clay Apartments are occupied. At Valley Fork, W Va Workforce remains a paying renter at $650 per month.
In an attempt to keep the lights on, the Director told the Board that she has already applied for new $$$ thru some Federal Corona relief fund. So far, no cash has arrived.
This meeting must have been a big shock for what's left of the once thriving Board. At the least, it was eye awakening. At issue is whether the 25 year old grass roots agency can remain solvent.
For County Clay, CAEZ could have been a real economic engine. Unfortunately, without funds for the last many years, CAEZ has done little for this count and the other our in the "zone."
It's sad to see an agency starved to death in secret due to management.
If free money doesn't show up quickly, CAEZ will have to shutter their doors. However, they can't just walk away. They have low income renters to consider, a long term lease for another renter, and then there's that campground. Someone has to take it and operate it. A couple years back, the BDA offered to take over that operation. There has been no public discussion, follow up, on that offer.
CAEZ is in a pickle readers and now, at least a small portion of their woes has been made public. Sounds too little too late!
AW
CAEZ has had little operations money for several years. A couple years back something slipped out. Back then during a General membership meeting, it came to light, they are so poor, they have been unable to pay for mandatory annual audits. During normal Board discussions, their poverty status shows up any time it came to spending on a program or upgrading any thing. That showed up because, all discussion was halted dead in their tracks.
Attempts have been made to keep their financials and financial posture secret. During what should be normal business talk, as soon as money is mentioned, everything was hushed up. Don't let the public know has been the attitude of the Director and some Boardsters.
CAEZ Director Connie Lupardus (Big Lup to many) must have been thinking, if we don't talk about this, it will just go away. Like most of her management skills, the secrecy is poorly thought thru. For Big Lup, that being frugal with the truth has done nothing but bring down the agency.
Only during the last four Board meetings has there been ANY mention of serious financial collapse the non profit agency is facing. The first mention came a couple months back when the CAEZ Chair acknowledged, the future of the grassroots organization was in financial jeopardy.
Let's fast forward to the May 5th meeting where Clayberry reps Fran King, Connie Kinder and Linda Rhodes were once again absent from duty.
For the first time ever, CAEZ Chair Michael Martin was upfront with the truth. At the onset, before anything else, Martin told his Board, he had lost sleep over finances. He brought up the topic of borrowing (loans) to pay basic expenses like utilities, insurance, and insurance. Martin, "... we owe bills and are unable to pay them.. We have no non committed funds..."
There was silence on the internet. After years of the Director telling them, we're holding our own, the Chair's words must have been shocking for em.
CAEZ has a bunch of expenses just to keep the doors open. Stuff like , a bunch of telephone lines, several power bills and daycare operation bills, add up quickly. There are three electric service bills at the Valley Fork Grade School which serves as their office space.
On the other side, CAEZ does receive little bits of income from several sources. Examples include:
Under normal conditions, they operate a daycare center which covers at least some of the overhead expenses.
They own (mortgaged) some rental units which brings in some direct income and administrative fees.
The Dundon campground and lodge adds a little bit more. With proper management, the campground operation could, should, generate a ton of revenue.
Already crippled by few funds, the current Corona Bug pandemic has put the brakes on the daycare business which closed its doors a couple months ago and the campground.
Even during tough times, every agency has to operate above board... between the legal lines. A suggestion came up that appears to blur those lawful lines.
Anytime you use Federal $$$, you have to follow their many rules. Referring to the apartments they own, the Fed's require CAEZ to maintain a reserve account to cover maintenance and equipment (roofs for instance) repairs / replacement. Dipping into those funds for other purposes, that's a big no no.
CAEZ is considering some kind of work around where $59K in reserve accounts could be tapped into. If such an approach is employed, bet you will be reading about the CAEZ in regional news outlets.
Using loan $$$ for everyday expenses is a sure fire way to kill any organization.
Kiddie Patch day care manager Stephanie Adkins brought to the board, a need to shut down that operation on a more permanent basis. Brought up: there are only two kids ready to come back, a lack of personal protection stuff, an unwillingness by parents to put their brats in a group setting, and and and, Ms Adkins has already resigned her position at the day care center.
Motion was made and passed to close Kiddie Patch til sometime down the road. There goes one of the income streams for CAEZ.
Some rental income remains. Like, most of the units at Clay Apartments are occupied. At Valley Fork, W Va Workforce remains a paying renter at $650 per month.
In an attempt to keep the lights on, the Director told the Board that she has already applied for new $$$ thru some Federal Corona relief fund. So far, no cash has arrived.
This meeting must have been a big shock for what's left of the once thriving Board. At the least, it was eye awakening. At issue is whether the 25 year old grass roots agency can remain solvent.
For County Clay, CAEZ could have been a real economic engine. Unfortunately, without funds for the last many years, CAEZ has done little for this count and the other our in the "zone."
It's sad to see an agency starved to death in secret due to management.
If free money doesn't show up quickly, CAEZ will have to shutter their doors. However, they can't just walk away. They have low income renters to consider, a long term lease for another renter, and then there's that campground. Someone has to take it and operate it. A couple years back, the BDA offered to take over that operation. There has been no public discussion, follow up, on that offer.
CAEZ is in a pickle readers and now, at least a small portion of their woes has been made public. Sounds too little too late!
AW