Concerns mount over Fayetteville recreation center staffing, resources
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- A group of citizens gathered this past week over mounting concerns tied to a therapeutic recreation center that caters to the special needs community in Fayetteville.
Jamie Scruggins, the director of the Dorothy Gilmore Therapeutic Rec Center, recently submitted her resignation. Parents and volunteers said Scruggins told them she stepped down due to inadequate staffing, and as a result, fear over liability issues.
"All she wants is the proper resources and staffing and she will stay," said Tim Wall, who relocated his stepdaughter Taylor to Fayetteville from Sanford to attend DGTC.
Attendance records were not immediately available, but at its worst, parents said Scruggins would be the only supervisor to 35 patrons at any given time. Volunteers are always handy, but there is the concern that they're not properly trained to handle the needs of special needs adults and children who take advantage of programs there.
In the past, greater stability was present with two other full-time staff members who were eventually transferred to other rec centers, and never replaced, the group said.
"Here at the Gilmore Center we have that (stability) and we've been slowly losing it over the past year," said Joshua Klickman, whose 17-year-old daughter Jessica attends the center.
Scruggins's resignation, combined with a noticeable decline in programs and paid staff over the past several, prompted a meeting Friday where about 40 parents, educators, volunteers and advocates gathered to organize a group that will present these concern to city and county leaders.
The center is funded by the Fayetteville Cumberland Parks and Recreation department.
"Every one of you standing here has the ability to go to city council, to go to the Senate," Brandy Rhorer-Storms, a parent leading the grassroots effort, told the group. "We do not want to lose this place."
Earlier in the week, Michael Gibson, the director of Parks and Recreation, told ABC11 that budget issues are not an issue, and there's also an allocation for part-time staffers.
A replacement for Scruggins has been named, but Gibson did say the center relies heavily on the support of adult supervisors that normally accompany the center's patrons.
Without the guarantee of training and health certifications, Gilmore center parents worry about consequences.
"If there's a mistake made with a volunteer, that could be a life-changer for that person," said Klickman. "It doesn't cost a lot of money, it doesn't take a lot of resources, and that (funding) sends a clear message to the entire community about the value of people."
This week, in an e-mail response to the concerns outlined by the groups' members, Fayetteville City Manager Ted Voorhies assured the group that Gibson had taken note of the concerns and was preparing a response for city and county leaders.
Some of those civic leaders replied to Wall saying they were just being looped into the issues.
"With the people that I have spoke to via e-mail, it seems like the political leaders at first did not know anything about this situation," said Wall. "Now at this point I think it's getting the right people in the right departments to react and get the staffing problems taken care of, and if there are any budget problem, get those taken care of, as well."
CHANGING LIVES
By all predictions, Jessica Long wasn't supposed to make it.
At 1 pound 11 ounces, doctors thought her best quality of life would be eating through a feeding tube and tethered to a bed. Dealing with cerebral palsy and head bleeds, the future looked dim.
"It was pretty much a given that she was going to die shortly after her birth," said her stepfather, Klickman.
Fast forward 17 years, and the Terry Sanford High School junior is well on her way to earning a diploma. She's been active in social activities, including the church choir and cheerleading, and her parents credit her growth to physical therapy and services offered through the Gilmore.
"She walks, she talks, she eats," said Klickman. She does all these things she wasn't supposed to do."
"It just shows, I think, how giving somebody time and effort and value, they can excel."
The center is precisely why the Klickmans, a large military family, chose to settle in Fayetteville, close to the center. They say it's Jessica's safe haven, where she can just be herself. Now they fear for its future.
"Had Jessica been put off to the side, not given physical therapy, not given attention, I don't know where she'd be right now, but I know her potential is limitless," said Klickman. "The one thing for sure is that if we don't allow her to have social interaction, if we don't give her activities, she won't grow."
Kellie Reaves, 44, has also been coming to the Gilmore Center for years. Her dance classes were cut last year, but she's hoping to see some of the services come back.
"I feel happy when I'm here," said Reaves. "I've been coming here for years and it would break my heart real bad to see it go."
