HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) - Time is running out to distribute the remaining American Rescue Plan funds, a fact not lost on Harrisburg's Heinz-Menaker Senior Center, which is in desperate need of funding.

"We are in the 11th hour," Les Ford, the executive director of the center said. "This is a crisis."

The center, which has been around since the 1970s, serves dozens of senior citizens by hosting events, serving meals and, during the COVID-19 Pandemic, distributing vaccines.

Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams approved $250-thousand to go towards the center, according to Les and the mayor's communication director, Mischelle Moyer.

Before the funds can be allocated to the facility, Harrisburg's City Council must approve them. City Councilwoman Jocelyn Rawls told abc27 News that Council is not against distributing some of the funds to the center, just not all of them.

However, Mayor Williams is the one who needs to open the application for funding, according to City Council President Danielle Bowers. Those funds also will not expire because they are already implemented to the general fund so they can be reallocated

"The Mayor is very displeased that the funds have not yet been dispersed to the Heinz-Menaker Center, which is the ONLY certified senior center in the city. It is City Council who is dragging their feet. The Mayor's position is very clear, they are due the funding."

Mischelle Moyer, City of Harrisburg Communications Director

"In January, I will start the process, with the approval of my board, of shutting this center down [if funds are not approved]," Ford said.

He's asking City Council to do something, and fast.

"We are in a crisis, and it was a crisis that did not have to come to this stage," Les said.