Grantsville's CRI is slated to close
By Bob Weaver
Calhoun's Community Resources Center (CRI) is slated for closure, along with other offices in their 11-county service area.
CRIs board in Parkersburg reportedly voted to close several of the centers, indicating a few could be left open.
Reports indicate the offices could close by May.
Four of 11 could remain open in other counties.
Calhoun Commissioner Rick Sampson said "Often the neediest counties get cut with poverty programs. It never makes any sense to me."
New commissioner Kevin Helmick will be voting on CRI issues at the next board meeting.
The agency has not released information about the closures and director Melanie Pagliaro could not be reached for comment.
CRI has been experiencing financial problems for the last several years with cuts in funding.
CRIs mission is "The improvement of the lives of low-income people," with a primary goal of providing services which help the poor obtain basic necessities, and developing means of change to those systems which cause poverty.
Calhoun's facility has been located in south Grantsville for several years.
The Little Kanawha Bus Company, a regional operation under CRIs umbrella, has been seeking to create its on transit authority in Calhoun, Roane and Jackson counties.
The transit concept has been embraced by officials in those three counties, but the bus company remains under the ownership of CRI, whose central office is in Parkersburg.
The division of Little Kanawha Bus and CRI is expected to come to a vote.
| 
