All of us in Happy Valley are shocked and saddened by recent negative attention on our community. This negative publicity has spread even to The Village at Penn State Retirement Community at a time when we’ve never been more thankful.

On Nov. 30, we announced that Liberty Lutheran Housing Development Corp., a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit senior living organization, was slated to own the operating assets of The Village at Penn State in the coming months pending a court proceeding and a Chapter 11 process. Our agreement and the Chapter 11 filing are the result of a process the Village began more than two years ago when the challenges in the economy and real estate markets put added pressure on the waning finances of our community.

We appreciate the Centre Daily Times’ coverage of our news. Unfortunately on Dec. 6, the CDT and other newspapers published an AP article that claimed, among other erroneous statements, that The Village at Penn State owes $18.8 million to residents who have moved out and demanded refunds.

The Village has always honored refunds when they are due, and we have received authority from the court to continue paying refunds in the normal course of our business.

Residents have not moved out due to our financial situation. In fact, we have been welcoming new residents.

It was unfortunate they had to spend any time feeling angry or confused over this article.

Finally, lost in some of the recent news coverage is that The Village continues to have the full backing of Penn State.

Our affiliation with Penn State, including our name, will remain the same and our residents will continue to benefit from all the amenities and intergenerational programming the university provides.

Marianne Hogg State College