North Flats Neighbourhood Association staff Jennifer Ward, Kayla Rigby, Dylan Cameron, Charity Ehnisz and Amanda McKinley. The News spoke with Ehnisz about cuts to the program's funding and what it could mean for its future.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel
An after-school program for at-risk youth in the Flats neighbourhood could be forced to shut its doors at the end of this school year as a result of provincial budget cuts.
The North Flats Neighbourhood Association received a letter from Alberta Children’s Services a few weeks ago notifying them that its $177,000 in funding would be discontinued in its current form as of March 31.
NFNA co-ordinator Charity Ehnisz told the News the group, which operates out of St. Louis School, serves as an early intervention and prevention program for kids enrolled in the public and separate school systems.
“All the kids are absolutely fabulous,” said Ehnisz. “Some of these children have some pretty heartbreaking stories. Some have already been involved with Child and Family Services, maybe they’re on the brink of being involved with Child and Family Services and some come from pretty stable homes.
“The parents are typically very humble people, trying to make it through life like everybody else, and sometimes need a place to lean on, or two shoulders to cry on, or need a place to send their kids so that they can keep their job, or continue to go to school so they can make life better for their family.”
The aim of the programming for the children is to “build up their resiliency” and provide them with “more applicable life skills to make them successful later in life,” she said. “You name it, we’ve done it.”
Each day when the kids come in after school, they’re given a daily challenge, which most often is related to literacy or numeracy, explained Ehnisz.
After that, they feed the kids a snack, then they often have the children write journal entries, “so that they can create some self-awareness and self-reflection,” before they pair up the older and younger kids into reading buddy groups, she said.
The program also emphasizes physical activity, since many of the kids come from lower-income households where sports are a luxury their parents cannot afford, as well as arts and crafts to promote creativity, and talking circles to help the kids express themselves.
The program has been in operation since 1996 and works with upwards of 100 kids throughout the year, also offering six weeks of summer programming.
“We’ve been through changes of government before and had to re-write our contracts, but this is probably the first time we’ve been told to prepare to close our doors,” said Ehnisz.
“We’ve been fiscally responsible for a very long time, so no matter what happens … we won’t abandon the families on March 31. We have enough funds in order to operate until the end of the school year for sure.”
The government suggested to the NFNA that it apply for a new funding model with the Family Resiliency Network, but Ehnisz says the best-case scenario is a “great reduction in budget.”
“It’s not too hard to read between the lines when you look at the application,” she said. “There’s no way the budget is going to allow for all agencies that are currently funded under that umbrella to receive further funding.”
She says St. Louis School principal Ron Blackmer has been a strong advocate for the NFNA, getting in touch with Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes to express his concern.
Blackmer says the NFNA is a great resource for parents and students at not only his school, but nearby Elm Street as well.
“It supports parents, who in turn are able to more support their children, but the immediate benefit is children who are being enriched in many ways – through literacy, nutrition, socialization and physical activity,” said Blackmer. “They’re getting these opportunities they wouldn’t normally have.”
He says he’s concerned that if the program is cut, or reduced, many of the parents won’t have the means to find after-school care for their kids.
For his part, Barnes told the News he plans on visiting the NFNA in the next couple of weeks.
“I love what they’re doing and, of course, I’d like to learn more about it,” said Barnes.
The 2020 budget comes out March 31, so Barnes says this will give him adequate time “to make sure that the government is 100 per cent aware of them.”
Barnes said it’s important the government value social services provided in smaller communities, but blames previous governments for putting the province into major debt that he claims has forced it to make difficult decisions.
“I am concerned when groups outside of Edmonton and Calgary seem to have more trouble getting noticed by the government. With groups where the need is strong and Albertans want and need to cover it, we have to make sure that interest doesn’t take all the money that’s available,” he said.
