By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
High Plains Independence was able to make its payroll for August, allowing it to stay open another month while it waits for its nonprofit status to be reinstated.
The agency that provides support for people with severe mental illnesses in Hays has temporarily lost its funding from the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services because of a paperwork error.
All of the organization's services are free.
After a recent audit of the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability, which funds Consumer Run Organizations, High Plains Independence was informed it had not filed the necessary 990 forms with the IRS to maintain its nonprofit status, Ginna Anderson, High Plains Independence executive director, said.
Anderson said she is working with a new accountant to file the proper paperwork to have the group's nonprofit status reinstated and is making progress.
The group is still facing a wait of three to six months before all the paperwork can be processed.
The group received about $5,000 in donations in August to keep the organization running.
"I appreciate what they've done," Anderson said.
However, she said, "Now we have to start over in September."
"We are going to stay open as long as we can," Anderson said this week. ... "I refuse to give up. God did not bring us this far to drop us in the muck."
Donations can be sent to High Plains Independence at PO Box 956, Hays, KS 67601.