Sometimes a nonprofit Board has to rethink whether it can still pursue its mission. Demand for its offerings may have so declined that closing appears the only option.
That apparently was the case for the Altenhiem Estate in Oakland, California. "The Altenheim was founded by San Francisco's most prominent German American families, the Sutros, Fleischhackers, Rosenbaums and others, as an upscale home for older German speakers to live out their days" according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The Estate was closed by its "owner", the Excelsior German Center, when it basically ran out of Germans and couldn't compete with less costly residences in the area.
With some creative thinking and financing and a renewed commitment to the original mission, the Estate has now been re-inaugurated to serve a broader based range of folks while still making German cultural offerings available.
It's good to see a Board survive the struggle many nonprofits are being challenged with these days.