By Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

Following the closing of Seasons of Life Adult Day Services on Wednesday, Polk County officials made it clear for anyone in need there are other options.

Polk County Manager Marche Pittman discussed the closing during his manager’s report during a commissioners’ meeting on Monday, Sept. 28.

Pittman said he received a letter from Seasons of Life owner June Beddingfield announcing the closing.

“She (Beddingfield) did a lot of advertising and was never able to get the numbers,” Pittman said. “We hate to see that loss in the community.”

Pittman said the county has internally discussed options for anyone in the community in need of those services. He said the county can work with transportation to get Polk residents to the needed care.

“We want the community to understand there are other options,” Pittman said. “We’re disappointed in the fact that we’re losing the facility but are working to help in other ways.”

Commissioner Michael Gage asked the reasons adult day service doesn’t work in Polk.

Pittman said with the prior provider, Rutherford Life Services, he kept hearing they weren’t advertising the service enough.

“We can’t say that about June,” Pittman said. “At the end they had one client. She couldn’t sustain it keeping it open without people there. I just feel like June did the best she could do to get it sustainable and it just wasn’t there.”

Commissioner Ray Gasperson said Rutherford Life Services was getting grants to keep it going and they finally got to a point where the numbers just weren’t there.

Gasperson thanked Betsy Freeman, who attended Monday’s commissioner meeting. Freeman was instrumental years ago helping the county get an adult day service open in the county. Polk County owns the building and contracted first with Rutherford Life Services to operate the facility, then when they closed, contracted with Seasons of Life. Polk County funded operations for six months to keep Rutherford Life Services to run the facility until Beddingfield agreed to take it over.

Other commissioners also commented how the loss is heartbreaking and unfortunate.

Pittman said Polk can work with other agencies like Rutherford Life Services, which operates a facility in Rutherford County, in order to get Polk residents the services they need.

Beddingfield, who also runs an in-home care service, said she is willing to try again in the future if the service is ever needed in Polk again.

Commissioners have not yet discussed what they will do with the building, which is located behind the Meeting Place Senior Center on Carmel Drive, off Skyuka Drive in Columbus.