An unfinished puzzle sits on a table today at the soon to be closed Caring Place Adult Day Center in Alpena. The center will close permanently at the end of January.

ALPENA — The Caring Place, an adult day care center that has been in operation for over 20 years, according to program supervisor Ann Lorenzi, will permanently close its doors at the end of January.

At a meeting last week, health officials said that the daycare center, located in the District Health Department No.4 building, has been losing money and clients since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is another example of the negative effects that COVID-19 has had on our community,” Lorenzi said. “It is very sad that this is happening.”

Lorenzi has been the supervisor at the center since November 2020.

The adult day care’s number of clients has decreased in recent years and the center will close its doors next month with just two full-time clients and one part-time client.

The two current full-time clients have been coming to the center for a long time, according to Lorenzi.

“One has been here for five years and the other has been here for 20 years,” she said.

Lorenzi said that they will have a goodbye celebration for them.

The Caring Place was dedicated to providing social interaction and activities for adult clients affected by dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and related disorders. They worked with a sliding fee and also offered transportation.

“People are just leery to come out of their homes,” Lorenzi said.

Lorenzi, a registered nurse, said that she will devote more of her time to other programs in DHD4, including the harm-reduction program geared to saving the lives of drug users in the community.

Even though the center is set to close permanently, Lorenzi said she hopes that things may change in the future.

Health officials said that the budget for the program is in the negative, but the liability of being understaffed or having an under qualified staff is a bigger issue.

The center has three employees, not counting volunteers. The employees are contracted workers that were paid more than nine dollars an hour, according to officials.

Officials said they raised the pay to $10, but still had a big turnover and with a shortage of nurses, staffing the center has been a challenge.

Health officials agreed that along with these issues, the ongoing pandemic and the fact that the day care program is a non-mandated program, closing the center would be the best option.

They did voice their regrets in having to eliminate those jobs and close a program that still benefits a few people. They also expressed regret that a donation of $10,000 was recently received for the program and applied to the negative budget.

Officials voted to issue a 30-day notice and to close the center at the end of a pay period, so the closing day will come in late January.