ATHABASCA — An Athabasca-area non-profit is seeking municipal support to help bridge a significant funding shortfall that could see drastic reductions in programming this summer, but some local officials think the province should pick up the bill.
Words Work Literacy Society has served Athabasca County and its residents for more than 30 years, providing adult learning programs for English language, literacy and numeracy, basic digital skills, and more out of the basement of the town office.
Charlene Brad has been with the organization for seven of those years, serving as the executive director for the past four. She was originally hired to create additional programming for the society and moved into her current role after the previous occupant retired.
Now faced with potentially cutting programs instead of creating them, Brad said: “It does not feel good. The number of students we’re helping has increased, but not only that, their needs are higher; they need more.”
The organization is funded by the provincial government’s Community Adult Learning Programs (CALP) grant, which provides the society with funding for three-year periods. In 2016, the CALP base grant was increased, but no top-ups over the last nine years have left Words Work staff to do more with less.
With a new grant cycle starting July 1, Words Works is anticipating a funding gap of approximately $15,000 per year, based on the previous grant amount.
According to Brad’s information package included in the Town of Athabasca’s Feb. 20 council meeting agenda, Words Work has been operating on $105,730 per year for the last seven years.
“As you know, costs have increased significantly over the past few years,” wrote Brad. Without extra funds, the popular Rhymes that Bind family literacy program, along with digital literacy supports, are at risk of being dropped.
The society also recently dropped their Book Bags for Babies program, which was funded solely through community donations. Brad said no donations have been received in more than two years.
Increased use, same old funding
Brad said a portion of the increased demand can be connected to the current global socio-political climate. “We’ve had a lot of newcomers, lots from the Ukraine. Right now, we have 11 Ukrainian English language learners out of our 25.” She noted the program has also seen learners from countries such as Syria, Japan, and Chile.
“The need for digital skills increased during COVID,” added Brad. “We had a lot of seniors coming to us for help with Facebook, Zoom, things like that to connect with their families when they couldn’t see them in person.”
She said the organization has had to be creative with resources: the program coordinator has stepped into teaching duties and more group sessions are held to reach more learners at once. Brad herself wears hats like technical support and the marketing department, in addition to her regular role.
Brad said the provincial budget, released Feb. 29, does have room for increased funding for the CALP grant, along with the Foundational Learning Assistance grant. But with no dollar amounts released and 80 CALP providers to divvy the grant between, Brad said the increase might not cover the looming fiscal gap.
“That’s two different programs, and we don’t know how that’s going to be split,” said Brad. “In the past, the other grants got a lot more than the CALPs did, so based on that information we’re expecting a small increase.”
Whose bill is it, anyways?
Brad noted in her submission to the Town of Athabasca that many Words Works clients are currently working low-paying jobs while they improve their skills. “Most of our learners are in financial need and therefore we are not able to collect much in tuition fees,” she wrote.
She sent requests for financial support to all three local municipalities: the Town of Athabasca, Athabasca County, and the Village of Boyle.
“In my mind, literacy is a local issue too, not just provincial. I think everybody should be contributing if they can,” said Brad.
While the county directed Brad to apply for funds via a grant application rather than a letter of request, Boyle was first to discuss the request during their Feb. 7 meeting. Per Brad’s letter, Boyle used to provide $500 a year towards the organization, which does offer services in the village. Councillors voted 5-0 to defer the request to budget deliberations, noting the significance of the program to residents.
“It’s an important program and it adds a lot … it’s well attended in Boyle,” said Coun. Shelby Kiteley. “$500 isn’t $500 like it was in 2016.”
Town of Athabasca councillors reviewed Brad’s letter Feb. 20, and unanimously decided to defer the item until more information on the provincial funding amount is released. A second motion to send a letter to Minister of Advanced Education Rajan Sawhney in support of increasing CALP funding was also carried unanimously.
“I think it’s really important we encourage our government to continue providing those services that are under their mandate,” said Coun. Sara Graling. “We can’t continue, with our $40,000 of revenue with a one per cent tax increase, shouldering these things — we can’t.”
Supplemental support
While Words Work awaits decisions from both municipal and provincial governments, Brad said the organization is considering seeking support from other community-based organizations. She also noted the society is always open to support in the form of volunteers.
“Our Board of Directors is also volunteers, and right now we’re running at our minimum of six, so actually have two vacant positions,” said Brad. Volunteer tutors to help with one-on-one language skills are also needed, which Brad said requires a weekly time commitment of around two hours.
Words Work Literacy Society operates Tuesday through Thursday in the basement of the town office. More information on their services and volunteer opportunities can be found on their website https://www.wordsworkliteracy.com/adult-tutoring.
