The Community Support Services offered by the Guelph Wellington Seniors Association appear to be saved.
The GWSA's board of directors had planned to stop offering a number of outreach programs at the end of June, including outreach for shut-ins, the SOS telephone visiting and three education, exercise and nutrition programs.
Instead they were looking for other non-profits to take them over, feeling the GWSA was not intended to be an employer or run like a business.
The board felt the Community Support Services, which are funded through a United Way grant, had become too much for the volunteer organization to handle.
But six members of the board of directors, including president Dorothe Fair, resigned just prior to Wednesday's board meeting at the Evergreen Seniors Community Centre.
One other board member had previously quit in protest to cutting the support services.
The GWSA represents 2,800 seniors in the area.
Adam Rutherford, the City of Guelph representative on the GWSA board and programming director at the Evergreen Seniors Community Centre, informed a room filled with people in favour of keeping the Community Support Services that the board members had resigned.
The crowd erupted with applause at the news.
"It's been a very trying five or six weeks for everybody involved," Rutherford said.
He said the response from many GWSA members after the old board announced it wanted to end the programs was "the democratic process in action, people standing up for services they believe in."
An interim board will now be formed and then voting on a new board will take place at the GWSA annual general meeting in June.
Rutherford said it shows "deeply, deeply how valuable the CSS programs is to this group."
The programs were going to end at the end of June.
Peggy Gibbons, who has used the CSS programs for 12 years, said she was thrilled at the decision.
"I come here two times every month and I really enjoy it, so I'm glad they're going to keep doing it," Gibbons said. "I would have really missed it."
Four of the GWSA board members who quit later provided GuelphToday with a written statement.
It reiterated that they were in the process of finding new providers to administer the programs and that the decision was made when three part-time employees were about to leave.
Rather than go through the "daunting task" of trying to hire new people, the former board members felt it was a good time to find someone else to run the programs, the letter said.
They said the United Way was consulted and agreed tht the program's funding could be redirected to those non-profit organizations who might take the programs over.
The letter said the 'Save The CSS' movement that sprung up circulated flyers containing "half truths" and that the board received "scathing and in some cases threatening" emails.
"A very toxic and uncomfortable atmosphere has been created within the association where a friendly, welcoming one previously existed and prevailed," said the letter from the former board members.
The letter said the "dissidents" of Save The CSS refused to meet with the board to discuss the decisions.
"The now former board members can only wish those who now tke the reins of the GWSA the best of luck in finding a workable solution," the letter concluded.
The letter came from former board members Ken Chupa, Ross Coulter, Nick Harris and Margaret Waldron.
