Social service organizations in Nanaimo are struggling despite an infusion of money from the provincial government gaming branch.
The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General announced $33 million in community gaming grants provincewide, with more than $800,000 of that earmarked for Nanaimo service clubs and organizations.
And it’s not nearly enough as the Nanaimo Family Life Association received $7,000 less than it requested for the volunteer counselling program, said Michele Hillier, acting executive director.
“We are short – there’s no question,” Hillier said. “This is the story with social service organizations.”
The association received $40,000 for the peer counselling program, plus $8,750 in three-month additional funding to help transition to a different grant program. Hillier said the association asked for $55,000.
“The program costs twice as much to run,” Hillier said.
The program is a peer counselling service the association offered for a number of years. After training, each peer counsellor donates 100 hours and clients pay on a sliding-scale basis, depending on what they can afford.
The Nanaimo Men’s Resource Centre’s grant of $50,000 has steadily dropped for two years, said executive director Theo Boere.
“It will keep the doors open for a little while,” he said.
Two years ago the organization, which provides counselling and support to men and fathers in Nanaimo, received $250,000 and last year $100,000.
“It’s a big disappointment,” Boere said. “Why are they cutting us back?”
Unlike Family Life, which secures program funding from organizations like the Vancouver Island Health Authority, Health Canada and the United Way, the men’s centre has been unable to find alternative funding sources to meet their needs.
Boere said he would like stable, long-term funding from the government from the appropriate ministries.
“Gaming [grants] should not be our lifeline,” he said.
Much of the funding directed to social service organizations is program based, leaving few sources to provide administrative support, like receptionists, coordinators and executive directors. To help make ends meet, Family Life is looking at new revenue sources, such as renovating a meeting room to rent, said Hillier.
“There are not enough funds for social service agencies and there are a lot of people accessing services,” said Hillier.
Boere said he would be making a budget over the next few days to see how much longer the organization can stretch their budget.
Hillier will be doing the same.
“We haven’t had to turn anyone away,” Hillier said. “We hope we never have to do that.”
The bulk of the funding, which was directed to not only social service organizations but also service clubs like Lions and Rotary, was identified as transitional, which the province says will help the groups move to a new grant program.
For a full list of organizations receiving gaming grants, please visit www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/gaming/grants/.
