It’s a familiar tale.
A local organization comes up with a good idea to provide a service that’s lacking in the community. People start to use that service and are appreciative of it. Funding starts to dry up. The organization has to either try to send its overworked volunteers to the public hat in hand, approach government for more money, or axe the program entirely.
And Westlock, certainly, is not immune.
This week we heard, as we’ve heard before, that Westlock FCSS may have to cut programming if it can’t the funding it needs. It could very well be the valuable counselling services the organization provides that end up on the chopping block.
Tripling the available hours of that program within the first year of what was to be a three-year pilot program is in and of itself irrefutable evidence this program is filling a crucial need in our community.
Likewise the Hope Resource Centre, a facility that addresses the concerns about domestic violence and elder abuse in our community, has had to shorten its hours for much the same reason. After a federal grant failed to come through there just isn’t money available to keep it going five days per week — and certainly anyone who musters up the courage to leave a bad situation on a Saturday night will tell you this isn’t a nine-to-five problem.
The list goes on — there are countless other important community organizations that could do so much more if only there was the political will to make it happen.
The truth is most of us will never need to make use of the counselling services at FCSS. Most of us will never have to make the tough choice to leave an abusive relationship. Most of us will never have to be on the receiving end of the food bank, Santa’s Anonymous or Victims’ Services.
But if just one of us needs those services, then we’ve got a moral obligation to make sure they’re available. We’re all Canadians, Albertans and Westlockers, and if we don’t look out for each other then who will?
There’s no excuse for thinking of these services as a line on a budget or a percentage tax increase. Let’s hope our elected officials agree.
