Jeanne Butts House closes

The Intergenerational House, the off-campus housing that provided a joint living environment for students and senior citizens, closed June 30 due to financial difficulties. The House was financed through the Neighborhood House Association of Lorain (NHA), Inc. The association is a non-profit organization which provides social services to elderly, minorities and low-income groups, according to Helene Stone, associate director of the association and OC `61.

The Intergenerational House, formally known as the Jeanne Beatie Butts House, has been open for four years, and on average housed six students and seven seniors.

"Basically it became financially impossible because the price for the seniors would have been too high," Helene Stone, said.

"It was draining the agency," she said. The current level of care for the seniors would have been impossible to keep without raising prices, Stone said.

According to Stone, the Board of Trustees of the Neighborhood House Association recognized, in February, that the House was in serious financial problems that had been growing for several years.

The Board made their final decision on May 30 to close the house a month later. "We thought it was a very successful program," Stone said. She said that it had been a great opportunity for both students and seniors.

The NHA worked with all the families of seniors who had been living in the house to help them find new living arrangements, Stone said. Some seniors moved into other group homes and assisted living environments while other seniors are living with family members.

Stone said that during the spring, the House had announced an increase in prices for the students. As a result, the students planning to live there had already found alternative housing arrangements. "No one was left out in the cold," Stone said.

The future of the house is undetermined now, but the association is considering using it for the Oberlin Senior Center. Stone said that they have contacted the City of Oberlin for a variance in order to open the center in the house.

She said that the association hopes to include day programs involving students and seniors to continue the connection between the College and senior citizens.