Emmaus campus slated for closure

Posted 11/7/19

By Bill Miller Jr. Record Publisher After 120 years, Emmaus Homes Inc. is making plans to close its Marthasville campus. The private, nonprofit, faith-based organization provides residential and …

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Emmaus campus slated for closure

Posted Thursday, November 7, 2019 5:48 pm

By Bill Miller Jr.Record PublisherAfter 120 years, Emmaus Homes Inc. is making plans to close its Marthasville campus.The private, nonprofit, faith-based organization provides residential and other services to 77 adults with developmental disabilities on its 650-acre campus located off of Highway D.In a letter that went out to the families of Emmaus clients and other stakeholders this week, Emmaus President and CEO Cindy Clark said a recommendation has been made to the board of directors to relocate the residents who live on the campus by 2020.The plan also includes closing the administration and wellness buildings on the campus by 2016 and subdividing some of the property on the campus for sale to families.According to the letter, Emmaus directors will vote on the plan May 19 after it holds a listening session with parents of residents and others May 7. That meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Fellowship Hall which is the main administration meeting center on the campus.Meanwhile, a group of parents and guardians of Emmaus residents who oppose the closure are stepping up their efforts to persuade the board to keep the Marthasville campus operational.They have been meeting regularly since last March when a federal agency that provides over 90 percent of the funding for campus residents issued a new rule defining what a residential setting must have to qualify as being “in the community” and thereby eligible for federal funding. While the state of Missouri has yet to interpret the rule and issue its own guidelines, there is concern that campus facilities like the one at Marthasville would not qualify.The group has been vocal in its opposition to moving residents off the campus and into groups home in nearby community which they say would be harmful and disruptive to their loved ones.Clark said Wednesday that while no decision on the fate of the Marthasville campus is “pressed in stone” it is her and her staff’s recommendation to begin the transition process of moving clients off the campus.“We need to find appropriate housing for the folks we have to move and that takes time,” Clark explained.In a similar move, Emmaus recently closed its 88-acre St. Charles campus and moved the residents that had been living there into homes in the area. The last client moved from that campus on Feb. 18. The property is under contract and slated for residential development.Clark said one of the reasons for closing the Marthasville campus is that fewer clients were choosing to live there. She said that while as many as 100 clients resided on the campus 20 years ago, the number has been declining and projections indicate as few as 60 residents could live on the campus in the next 5 to 10 years.Clark added that in the past 3 years, 93 percent of new Emmaus clients have chosen to live in an integrated community setting rather than on one of their campuses.She said another factor underlying the decision was the cost associated with operating the Marthasville facility.“When you look at what it costs to operate the Marthasville campus, the costs associated with maintaining the infrastructure — the roads and the water and sewer system — it is much more expensive that operating homes in the community where the cities assume those upkeep costs. Today we are losing approximately $400,000 a year operating the Marthasville campus,” she explained.Clark said that staffing has also been an issue in Marthasville but she didn’t expect any of the 104 professional direct support staff that currently work at Emmaus would lose their jobs if the plan was approved. Emmaus has been one of the largest employers in Warren County for years. Clark said that approximately 130 people currently work at the campus.The letter indicated that Emmaus was in conversations with representatives at TEMCO, a separate sheltered workshop located next to the campus, regarding its transitional plans and asked them to create a time line for their own transition or develop a proposal to assume control of the water/wastewater systems on the property.

Photo courtesy of www.emmaushomes.org.

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Emmaus campus slated for closure

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Emmaus campus slated for closure