Dozens of people across Charlevoix and Emmet Counties may soon be without disability services.
Since 1965, the Bergmann Center in Charlevoix has helped support people with disabilities across northern Michigan. They provide employment opportunities, community integration, and help locals build life skills like cooking and cleaning.
But now financial strain has caused the center to set a closing date.
"On April 16, Bergmann Center formally served a 30‑day Notice of Termination of Services to North Country Community Mental Health," the Bergmann Center said on Soical Media.
"As it stands today, services are scheduled to end on May 16, 2026, due to years of systemic failures and instability within NCCMH that made sustainable services impossible."
They say NCCMH owes them $92,000 for services already provided, along with $50,000 per provider that was supposed to be paid out at the beginning of the fiscal year.
North Country Community Mental Health did not respond to a request for comment.
Keri Laporte-Montero is the Bergmann Center's CEO. According to her, the lack of funding provided to them has made it difficult to maintain the needs of their people.
"We serve 71 people, and they're scattered across several different counties, primarily in Charlevoix and Emmet counties," Laporte-Montero said. "However, there's only four providers for six counties, so the individuals needing services, we have a lot of travel, a lot of space to cover, and that costs money."
She added it costs more money to do business in rural areas due to the lack of resources available.
The community has been coming out to show their support for Bergmann and their services, Laporte-Montero said.
One worry about the center's immanent closure is that lack of resource availability in the region. Laporte-Montero expressed concern residents across the tip of Michigan's mitt may struggle to travel for the programming they need.
"We have some transit options, but they might not cross county lines. Families might not be able to afford to drive back and forth to those places every day."
She says people within the center are heartbroken, with some people having used the center for upwards of 30 years.
"It's where their friends are. It's the place they call home. So, to learn that their home might not be there is very traumatic," Laporte-Montero said. "It's traumatic for the individuals we serve most of all, but it's traumatic for their families who have relied on this level of support, and it's traumatic for our staff."
Officials with the Bergmann Center will be meeting with the NCCMH board of directors on April 30th to try and negotiate to stay open.
If negotiations fail, the center will close for the final time on May 16th.
