(3-8-23) What will become of the 103 residents of Portage Manor in South Bend, one of Indiana’s few county homes for individuals with mental illnesses and other issues who are poor or elderly?
“What’s going to happen to us? What can we do?” the residents have asked Sara Zolman, one of the advocates questioning the group home’s closing. Zolman was quoted in the local paper telling St. Joesph County Commissioners,“It is a family. It is a 30-year-old helping a 75-year-old. … It works with a heart. My heart is breaking for them. … There is no other place like this.”
What’s puzzling is how the local county commissioners are handling the closing.
I was told there was no advance public input before a vote and while the commissioners are claiming the county can’t afford to keep operating the home, financial records sent to me suggest Portage Manor is self-sustaining and doesn’t depend on county taxes.
So what’s going on?
Advocates are hoping an investigative reporter at the South Bend Tribune or other news outlet will demand to see financials and ask tough questions about the closing rather than simply relying on statements by St. Joseph County Commissioners.