Piedmont Senior Resources Area Agency on Aging, Inc.(PSR) is consolidating to one office in the College Plaza Shopping Center at 1413 S. Main St. in Farmville.

Currently, PSR operates offices in Burkeville and Farmville, both of which closed this week.

PSR Executive Director Justine Young said being located in two separate offices was due to not having enough space in the organization’s original Burkeville office when it took over the nutrition program.

“What’s happened over time is we’re operating two separate offices, so the staff is split, and I’m split, as a director. So this way we will pull it all into one location (with) enough room for everything,” Young said. “… We’ll all be operating out of one place.”

She said the move will hopefully make operations more economical and more efficient and will lend to a greater visibility for the organization.

“Nobody seems to know where our offices are; we seem to be invisible,” Young said. “I met with (Prince Edward County Sheriff Wesley Reed) and his staff about a month ago and they didn’t know where we were and didn’t know what we did.”

Young said she’s running into that in each county PSR serves.

“The office in Burkeville was frequently confused with Piedmont Geriatric Hospital. People thought we were one and the same, which we had nothing to do with them,” Young said. “… We needed to separate from that so people would understand we are not connected in any way.”

Young also said PSR wanted to be in an area with heavy traffic.

“Because of the location, we took the old Frank’s Place with the outdoor patio area. We’ll be able to (hold) events out there on that patio (and) do promotional things,” Young said.

She said it was also on the Farmville Area Bus route.

“We think we’ll be much more accessible and much more visible and that also, we hope, will translate into greater donations and greater support for the agency, because a lot of our programs do rely on donations,” Young said.

She said four years ago, the agency was almost defunct. Since then, she said the agency has essentially been recreated with new programs, a new board, new management, expansion of a fleet of vehicles and growth with its nutrition program.

“It kind of reminds me of a phoenix rising from the ashes because … this agency was probably very close to being shut down four years ago,” Young said. “And now we are, I would say, a major force in the area, providing a tremendous amount of services in the area and employing, you know, almost 40 people and still growing.”

PSR provides supportive services and advocates for people 60 years of age and older. According to the agency’s website, PSR serves residents of Amelia, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Lunenburg, Nottoway and Prince Edward counties. The website cites that Young took over leadership of PSR in 2013, bringing new energy and vision to the organization. 

The agency provides health and nutrition services, home-delivered meals, congregate meals at senior centers, information and referral services, in-home services, legal services and Medicare and insurance guidance to seniors.

“Our services are designed to help seniors lead independent lives and remain safely in their homes,” officials said on the website.

Young said the agency will possibly hold an open house at its new location in September.