The province’s Community Spirit Program will pump out $14.9 million to a host of non-profit and volunteer organizations this year, including 23 in St. Albert.
Now in its third year and wrapping up its first funding cycle, the program matches dollars donated to these organizations, to a maximum of $25,000 in a single year and $50,000 over the cycle.
Roughly $38 million was distributed in the first two years, and the $14.9 million has been earmarked to start off the second cycle, next year. Minister of Culture and Community Spirit Lindsay Blackett said the program is vital to the not-for-profit sector.
“Not-for-profit and voluntary organizations are the underpinnings of our society, really,” he said. “Alberta one-hundred years ago was about families, communities and helping one another … now we have evolved into the smaller and larger cities and all of the social problems and challenges [that come with that] are there.”
Blackett is not surprised to see a high number of recipient organizations in St. Albert.
Any place with a thriving arts community will tend to be a very caring community as well, he said.
But with economic downturn, it can be difficult for these organizations.
“Most organizations, in the best of economic times they’ve always got to deal with increased rents, to pay staff who could make more money elsewhere, and many of them here are doing two or three jobs as one person and [the organizations] could always use more dollars,” he said.
St. Albert’s Stop Abuse in Families Society will receive the full $25,000 this year, and has reached its $50,000 maximum over the last couple of years. Executive director Doreen Slessor said the organization has been aggressive in bringing in donations to get matched.
“We have worked very hard, we’ve been fortunate,” she said.
Slessor’s organization will spend its money on operational costs like rent, marketing and utilities — items that are not “glamorous” for grants, as she called them. But having them paid for can help out other areas of her organization.
“If I’m not having to spend $25,000 on rent, then I can spend $25,000 directly on program expenses, which would pay for our counseling programs,” she said. “If the operational costs are paid, that frees up more money that we can devote to our services.”
The St. Albert Youth Community Centre, which will receive slightly more than $5,100 this year, will put that money toward programming expenses such as supplies for the activity centre or for volunteer recruitment and appreciation.
Executive director Brenda O’Neill said the money is appreciated, and needed.
“There are a number of grants for specific expenses that are not available as much as they used to be, and the size for this grant is based on the number of personal donations you have as opposed to what your need might be,” she said. “There are a number of ways that they’ve leveled the playing field, and certainly this grant is one of them.”
