Almost one year ago, muddy water from a nearby construction site flooded the Athens Community Council on Aging (ACCA) building on Hoyt Street. June 11, 2024, will mark the one-year anniversary of that flood, which significantly damaged the facility's physical structure—flooring ruined, drywall soaked through and crumbling, carpet drenched, bathroom fixtures damaged, and paint stained and peeling.

More damaging, though, was the immediate and traumatic interruption in services that ACCA provides to its senior adult clients and their families.

“The disruption of services was devastating to our clients and heartbreaking to us,” said Eve Anthony, ACCA President and CEO. “The senior adults  who we serve - whom we love - rely on the continuity of our programs and services. We did not abandon them. I am very proud of how our staff responded, both when the flood happened and since then. They have entirely focused on the senior adults we serve and have made every effort to minimize the impact on them.”

Anthony said that ACCA “believes that an AT&T crew working on a public-private housing development adjacent to our facility ruptured a section of the conduit containing cable/telephone wiring.” After further investigation, she believes that the exposed conduit led into the ACCA electrical control room, and when a thunderstorm rumbled through soon after the break, the ACCA building was flooded. Despite repeated requests for financial assistance with the recovery, AT&T has not offered support.

The impact of the flood 12 months ago still lingers. Participation in the Center for Active Living, a fee-based ACCA service, is down by 50%. ACCA has retained legal counsel, which is an out-of-pocket expense that was not included in the budget. The organization took out a line of credit to pay for partial repairs and is leasing space for its Senior Center to meet. The Meals on Wheels program carries a waiting list, and ACCA is not able to resolve that issue because of ongoing flood expenses. ACCA operates more than a dozen programs in the flood-damaged facility, many of which had to be moved, merged, rescheduled, or canceled.

The ACCA website has a page dedicated to flood recovery updates (https://www.accaging.org/flood-communications/). People who want to stay up to date with ACCA’s  events, programming, volunteer opportunities, or to make a donation can visit  www.accaging.org or call (706) 549-4850.

Founded in 1967, ACCA today provides 14 aging service programs to 27 counties in Georgia.