More than 40 people joined a protest outside the Twin Cities Senior Center on Monday to voice opposition to a controversial new policy implemented by the Lewis County Seniors nonprofit that seemingly bans prayer and discussion of politics at the facilities.
According to Lewis County Seniors Board President Carol Brock, the policy in question follows complaints from seniors earlier this summer. She said individuals approached the Lewis County Seniors Board of Directors saying they felt they were being preached at while trying to get a meal, according to Brock, board vice president Erin Frasier and board member Chris Rust.
This controversy originally started when Brock published an article in the monthly Lewis County Senior Dynamics publication, which is produced by DeVaul Publishing, earlier this month.
In the article, Brock stated the policy was created to ensure “everyone will be able to attend our centers with acceptance and without discrimination.”
“They felt like they were at a church service versus coming in for lunch and activities,” Brock told The Chronicle on Monday, later adding, “We just don’t want to have prayer led from the podium and people feeling like they have to pray whatever that prayer is. There’s just too many faiths in this country and our country was founded on freedom of religion.”
In the Senior Dynamics article, she stated acceptance, diversity and inclusion were all paramount and that no bullying, prayer or politics would be allowed.
Both prayer and political discussion are still allowed, Brock said on Monday.
“We’re not going to each table and saying ‘you can’t say that.’ As a 501c3, we have to be apolitical and there are rules we have to abide by concerning public prayer,” Brock said.
Brock said not all political talk is banned, either.
As a nonprofit, Lewis County Seniors cannot endorse any particular candidate. Rust said he heard people still discussing local politics and issues among each other during his visit last Friday.
As a nonprofit, the Lewis County Seniors organization has to abide by rules concerning prayer and political speech in order to keep certain grants and funding.
Brock also said she’s had recent push-back from seniors angry about Pride celebrations.
All holidays, including Pride celebrations, will continue to be recognized at the senior centers, she wrote in Senior Dynamics. At a recent Pride event at the Pe Ell nutritional site, to-go meals were made especially for those who didn’t want to attend the Pride event.
Brock told The Chronicle she wrote the article to let readers know the new policy was a board decision, not the decision of individual senior center site leaders.
While Brock attempted to engage with the protesters for around 20 minutes on Monday during a planned event billed as a “prayer circle,” she left after the microphone she was using to respond was turned off while she was talking and after being called un-American by attendees.
Brock said the policy was based on recommendations from the Lewis-Mason-Thurston Area Agency on Agency (LMTAAA), which dictates prayer must simply be done quietly and respectfully.
“The board decided, because we know our patrons are people of faith, by and large, that we would have a moment of silence for people to use as they wish. Some people choose to use that for a prayer and some people choose to continue their conversations,” Rust said. “It works. I was here Friday for lunch. I gave thanks for my meal while other people at my table continued their conversation … No one is trying to deny anyone’s constitutional rights.”
Many who oppose the policy maintain it’s a violation of their First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and expression and claimed the board had no right to make the policy as a publicly funded organization.
Lewis County Seniors used to be controlled by the county, but as of 2017 is now a private nonprofit organization, according to previous reporting by The Chronicle. Some of the facilities it uses are still owned by the county, though.
The organization still receives $100,000 in funding from the county to help pay for the senior nutrition meal program, but that is just a drop in the budget’s bucket, Frasier said. Most of the other funding comes from grants, fundraisers, donations and the LMTAAA.
Frasier added all board members are volunteers, and there are currently five board positions that need to be filled. Frasier invited those in attendance at the protest to apply.
Brock said she was disappointed with an opinion piece by Chronicle Publisher Chad Taylor published in Saturday’s edition. She felt the opinion didn’t share the full story of what she wrote in Senior Dynamics.
In his opinion, Taylor noted that Brock currently heads up the Lewis County Democrats, and claimed she was forcing her personal political bias on those at the senior centers. Brock maintained the decision was not hers alone, but the entire Lewis County Seniors Board of Directors. She again invited anyone interested in filling the vacant positions on the board to get involved.
Aside from Brock, Frasier and Rust, the other Lewis County Seniors board members include Zora De Grandpre, Judy Barr, Ron Averill, Jason Donahe, Sheila Johnson-Teeter, Olga Miller and Usha Sahadeva-Brooks, according to the nonprofit’s website. Miller notified The Chronicle she is no longer on the board.
Lewis County Commissioners Sean Swope and Scott Brummer were critical of the policy during a meeting at the Lewis County Courthouse on Monday.
“If you feel these changes are restrictive, voice your concerns,” Swope said in a statement to The Chronicle.
Commissioner Lindsey Pollock encouraged those with concerns to reach out to the Lewis County Seniors Board.
“I have faith that the Lewis County Seniors Board will find a way forward from this moment that will respect the full rights of all of our seniors, allow for prayer, and allow for political conversations,” Pollock said in a statement to The Chronicle.
The commissioners discussed the possibility of holding a meeting with the Lewis County Seniors board.
Copies of Senior Dynamics can are free at all Lewis County Seniors centers throughout the county at at A Second Time Around Thrift Store in Chehalis.
For more information about Lewis County Seniors, visit its website, https://lewiscountyseniors.org/.
