Johnston adult care center facing closure

Katrina Boylan opened Divine Destiny Adult Care in Smithfield in September, trying to provide a place where people suffering from Alzheimer's disease or dementia could spend the day, providing relief to their caregivers.

"I have to sustain my family. I have to work. There's a lot of commitment, so knowing he's taken care of, I don't worry about him," said Beth Williams, whose father stays at Divine Destiny.

Boylan said Tuesday that she got the idea for the nonprofit after caring for her son, who has a mental disability, and her father, who had Alzheimer's.

"Divine means godly, and destiny is your place. So, it's God's place," she said. "We give them some decency and dignity."

The center is $20,000 behind in its lease, payroll and other expenses, however.

Boylan said she burned through her savings and maxed out credit cards trying to keep the center afloat after she was unable to secure state or federal grants. The final blow came when she had to spend $70,000 to install a sprinkler system to bring the building up to state code.

Some private donors have helped Divine Destiny, and volunteers even lobbied the Smithfield Town Council for support. Mayor Daniel Evans said the town doesn't have any money in its budget for the center.

"We will somehow, someway keep these doors open," Boylan said.