At this tax filing time of year, we are perhaps more keenly aware of our financial state. I was talking to Sean, the manager of the wonderful new Lexington Senior Center, and shared with him the losses that Aging With Grace has experienced in the course of trying to improve the health and quality of life for our seniors who need a little help to be independant and healthier. Even if the maximum number of members join the health club for seniors to give us an income to pay expenses and then some, it will take at least 20 years to break even. I will be 81 then. Saying it out loud to Sean brought it into the forefront of my thoughts. Anyone who looks at our finances knows that we are on a mission, not a business venture.

We are not trying to get rich while accomplishing our mission. As I said, it will take 20 years to break even. Here is how I calculated that amount and time: I quit my job at Sayre School in 2008, where I was making $50,000 per year from my school year teaching job plus my summer programs administrator job, to earn a Masters Degree in Healthcare Administration to try to figure out the crazy world of healthcare in hopes that I could improve the delivery of long term care services for the elderly. After earning my degree I began working to open the health club for seniors. Multiply $50,000 times the nine years I have not had an income and/or a severly reduced income and that equals a loss of $450,000. Add that to the money we have spent and/or are in debt because of what it cost to open and operate at a loss for the last 19 months for another $500,000 + our former landlord wants us to pay $40,000 for his losses due to us breaking our lease because we could not afford his building and Kentucky Bank, who has our SBA loan uses a lawyer who has charged us over $4,500 in fees for her services on the bank’s behalf, which equals $994,500. And we are still operating at a loss as I write this because we only have the equivelent of five full time members attending.

So, if a miracle happens and we have 20 members join us next week, which is our maximum capacity, we will have to hire three additional employees and of course food and other expenses will increase to the tune of approximately $16,000 per month. That would mean $5,000 could be used to pay down the debt and $5,000 could be used to give me an income, which I have never had. Multiply the $5,000 to pay on recovering our losses times 12 months = 60,000, and multiply that by 20 years and you get $1,200,000. Our losses are $994,500 so far. But of course, realistically speaking we are not going to attract 20 members next week, so our losses are mounting and we will probably lose another $205,500 (the difference between what we could pay on our losses in twenty years if we filled next week and what our losses at this point in time actually are) before we attract 20 more members. If we ever do.

It is no wonder no one wants to open an adult day center that is exclusively for seniors. I know we could have filled immediately if we took the younger mentally challenged population, but that is not our mission. Our mission is to improve the health and quality of life for people who have lived full and productive lives and who through age related illnesses need some assistance to remain in their homes and communities as long as possible. It is what I want for myself as I grow older and more feeble and less able to cook, shop, drive, administer my own medications correctly, take myself to the doctor and communicate and advocate for my own medical needs, clean and maintain my home (we can help get you help for that from trustworthy sources), bathe safely (we can do that for you at the club or get good help for you at home), manage my own finances (we can get trustworthy help for you there too) and a myriad of other challenges that happen to us as we age.

What do you want for yourself? Is there a nursing home that you have picked out for yourself? Are you planning to spend your children’s inheritance on an assisted living and all the extras you will need as you age? Is there a family member that you are certain will be there for you (remember, life is full of some nasty surprises)? Do you want someone (a lawyer for example) to manage your affairs and get you a live in caregiver or someone from an agency to come into your home to care for you? Please do install a surveillance system if that is your plan. For myself, I think being at home all the time would be so boring. And I would get really sick of the same person in my face all the time. Research shows that adult day centers improve cognitive function and quality of life for attendees http://www.nadsa.org/research/metlife-national-study-2010/. I want to attend Aging With Grace (I am working hard 11 hours each day in hopes it will be there for me in twenty or so years) full time and have a caregiver at my house. Yes, I will install a surveillance system. My house has a downstairs walk out basement that could be an apartment for a live-in caregiver. Maybe a college nursing student. The average amount of time that people need the care I am describing is three years. It breaks my heart when I see people suffer during their last days on earth. I want my family to have happy memories about my last days. I am working hard to make happy memories while caring for my 91 year old mother in law.

Well, time to get busy on our taxes. May you and yours have a beautiful week ahead.