Leaders at Homer Senior Citizens, Inc. say the move is necessary after discovering unpaid payroll taxes, along with hundreds of thousands in overdue bills to vendors and mortgage payments. The nonprofit serves more than 150 seniors through housing, assisted living, meals and care services.
Executive Director Sarah Weideman said she identified the issue early after she took on the role last October.
“This was all discovered on my second day in the center, 8 a.m. So we need an attorney and not one that's been working for the center, so I called a law firm that I've worked with at other locations and went, ‘Hey, I need your help,’” Weideman said.
Weideman said the organization immediately reported the issue to the IRS and began paying back what they owed.
Since then, the center also launched a forensic audit, hired outside accountants and started rebuilding missing financial records for the most recent fiscal year.
Now, the board is working with lawyers to file for bankruptcy. Weidman said she doesn’t know how soon it could go into effect.
She said Chapter 11 bankruptcy would allow the center to stay open while repaying debts through a court-approved plan, with regular payments to the IRS and vendors.
“And that would be lined out in a very, very strict budget. Again, we've never had a budget before, so who knows? There's no historical data, so this budget will be 100% based off current usage in the past six months,” Weideman said.
The center’s assisted living, housing and meal programs remain in place. Weideman said the adult day services program may shut down at the end of the month due to staffing and budget constraints, though efforts are underway to keep it open through donations and other support.
