MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Middletown police escorted Central Connections executive director Diane Rogers from the facility Thursday, announcing they have opened a criminal investigation.
Police would not reveal who or what were the target of the investigation and would only say the investigation was ongoing. The facility's board announced Thursday they'd fired Rogers in a Facebook post.
The announcement from police came in the wake of the Council on Aging terminating all contracts they had with the facility, including provision of funding for meal delivery and transport services for roughly 1,300 seniors in Butler and Warren counties.
"There's some sadness there because we've had a 30-year relationship," said Paula Smith, Council on Aging Communications Director.
Smith said the council had sent Central Connection's board a series of letters demanding the facility show that it was using public money appropriately.
She said when the board failed to produce that proof, the council sent them a letter notifying them they would be terminating all contracts with the facility.
"We've had staff on site almost daily, particularly watching the home-delivered meals operation because we had concerns about that financial stability," Smith said. "We know they had issues making payroll, which caused employees to stop working. I mean, who would want to work if they don't get paid? We also know there were vendors who supplied their meal production who were behind on payments."
Central Connections board president Rich Fishbaugh told WCPO partner Journal-News that the facility was serving 4,000 to 5,000 meals a week and losing about $1 per meal. He said the three-year contract with Council on Aging was set to expire this year, with the center profiting off the contract the first year, breaking even the second year and losing money this year.
"Nothing was working in our favor," Fishbaugh told Journal-News, who previously said Central Connections is trying to reorganize its finances and could file for bankruptcy.
Fishbaugh told Journal-News the facility will try to find another company to contract with to provide home-delivered meals.
In the wake of the upheaval, several organizations have stepped up to fill the gaps, including the First Presbyterian Church just down Central Avenue opening its doors for communal lunches on weekdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Smith said Partners in Prime, Meals on Wheels Southwest Ohio and Warren County Community Services took over home distribution of meals, and people who've lived nearby their entire lives like Alayna Garver-Taylor, a fifth-generation farmer at the Garver Family Farm, took it upon themselves to help any way they could.
"Our immediate thought was what can we do?" Garver-Taylor said.
She said they've worked to expand the number of Council on Aging food vouchers they can honor, and they plan to make extra deliveries of fresh produce on request as much as possible.
"We're already out delivering these boxes," Garver-Taylor said. "Why not throw a couple more in the car and reach some of these citizens who otherwise won't be getting their fresh food?"
Garver-Taylor said the best way to reach them to connect their drivers with someone in need is to contact them through their Facebook page or by calling their market at 513-539-6366 Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
WCPO reached out to Community Connections and its board members and made several attempts to reach Rogers Thursday but did not receive a response.
Journal-News reporter Rick McCrabb contributed to this report.
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