JUNEAU — A longtime Juneau service agency is in debt and struggling to remain open amid staff resignations and layoffs.
The nonprofit Southeast Alaska Guidance Association is also in the process of moving from its main shop and office.
Acting board chairman Matt Smith said members are fighting to keep the agency running, but he doesn't know if it will be operating after this year.
George McGuan, who joined the board in March, said members told him the association was $250,000 in debt.
"I was blown away. I was like, OK, we're a non-profit. How are we $250,000 in debt? And they just kind of seemed like, 'well, that's how we operate,'" McGuan said.
The agency, founded in 1986, has programs that bring AmeriCorps volunteers to the state, and McGuan said that's how he first came to Juneau in 2005.
He said the debt goes back many years but the organization began to unravel this year, with the departure of the board president and several staff members.
The board initially tried to find a replacement for the executive director position, but the search has stopped, McGuan told KTOO in a story Wednesday.
SAGA has been looking for another organization to take over its AmeriCorps members. Its AmeriCorps program Connections is funded through September.
The agency board also isn't sure if SAGA can continue to operate an outdoor education and retreat facility in Juneau. The City and Borough of Juneau owns the center and has had a use agreement with SAGA since 1992. The current agreement runs through 2016.
City parks and landscape superintendent George Schaaf said SAGA has asked to renegotiate after having difficulty meeting terms of the agreement.
"I know that they're going through some stuff right now and basically they've just assured me that they're taking care of the building, keeping the heat on, keeping the road plowed, that kind of thing," Schaaf said.
