Adult day care seeks new home after building in foreclosure

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dozens of people suffering from dementia or stroke may have to find a new place where they can get care.

The building that New Friends Adult Daycare on Commonwealth Avenue rents is now in foreclosure.

The company that owns the building, Walker Investment, defaulted on the loan and that's who the day care rents the facility from.

Lavondia Holloman is a caregiver at New Friends Adult Daycare. She helps care for about 40 people with dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

The patients range from their 20s to more than 100 years old.

"Patients with Alzheimer's and dementia, they don't adapt well to abrupt changes," Holloman said.

However, that's exactly what's coming to the people at this nonprofit funded by Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services.

Day care executive director Elaine Walker said First Citizen's Bank wants them out by the end of the month.

"We're having to break the program up and send individuals to different locations. They may not be as equipped to handle people with dementia," Walker said.

New Friends has tight security so people can't wander off. The clients arrive by bus in the morning while their families work, then leave at night.

Joann Setzer, 64, looks forward to being here every day.

"It's all family. I have all my friends here when I come here," she said. "I hope God will make a way."

Walker told Channel 9 the agency has asked First Citizens Bank to allow them time to transition out of the Commonwealth Avenue property and find a new place.

First Citizen's spokeswoman Barbara Thompson told Channel 9 there is no deadline for the day care center to move. Thompson said the bank hopes a new home can be found for the center.

However, Channel 9 was shown a letter from the Department of Health and Human Services to the day care. It says the bank wants the move to happen as soon as possible.

Walker said the day care center is eyeing a building in west Charlotte for a new home, but nothing is definite yet.

To see more local news stories, click here.

WSOC