Funding Local Groups – the Need is Real

West Island community groups are on the front lines – offering services – in terms of information, counseling and educational programs to its residents throughout the year.

Community groups’ needs have grown, and in some cases, their resources have diminished. A recent survey probed the currently-funded groups to declare their unmet needs, provide some stats on who they are servicing, explain the trends they are experiencing, and itemize their “wish list” for continuing and upgrading service.

The feedback was illuminating. Many of the West Island community groups described the similar issues and themes. They described:

• Long waiting lists, the difficulty of keeping an accurate data base and need for follow-up
• People on waiting lists for critical needs could not be helped in their time of crisis and then disappeared from the system
• Some groups had to turn people away, knowing that no alternatives were available for referral
• Expansion to serve current needs was hindered by lack of funds for adequate staffing: inability to upgrade part-time to full-time staff, add new positions or upgrade physical space to accommodate larger programs and more staff
• Rising costs of everything administrative: salaries, rent, materials
• Loss of funding from alternate sources, resulting in an unexpected shortfall to cover existing costs
• Failure of other similar organizations, so they are being asked to provide services to more people
• Spending money on basic office supplies, which takes away from delivering direct programs and services
• Operating in crumbling buildings and coping with inadequate office furniture or equipment
• Trying to recover from budget deficits, all the time trying to deliver the same level of service in an environment of increasing demand
• It’s difficult to have a long-term outlook when funding is not renewed
• Inability to raise nominal charges to users due to their low income level