In its pursuit of helping members of the community, Westlock County council have given money to two organizations that operate outside the municipality’s borders.
The two organizations in question, the Sparrow’s Hope women’s shelter in Barrhead County and the Wellspring Family Resource and Crisis Centre in Whitecourt, were granted money because they have helped Westlock residents in the past year, reeve Charles Navratil said. Since the Wellspring Centre provides services to Westlock residents, the centre came to the county asking for $7,000 to help run the operation, he added.
Even with Sparrow’s Hope opening, people have continued to use the Wellspring centre’s services, he said, which partly played into why the county granted the centre $3,500, only half of what it requested.
The remaining $3,500 was granted to the Sparrow’s Hope centre.
“We try to help everyone a little bit instead of putting our money all in one place,” Navratil said.
Until Sparrow’s Hope opened, the Wellspring centre was the closest facility of its kind to Westlock, and was where most of the people seeking to escape abusive relationships went.
Now, with Sparrow’s Hope open, it may get to the point where no Westlock residents make the trip to Whitecourt, Navratil said. If that happens, the Wellspring centre would no longer be eligible for county grants.
The county aims to keep most of its money within the county, Navratil said, which is why the Hope Resource Centre received the largest grant of $10,000.
The grant program evaluates requests on a case-by-case basis, said CAO Ed LeBlanc. Organizations come to the county with a written request and council will either accept the request or deny it.
In the case of the Wellspring centre, LeBlanc and Navratil said there are no strings attached to the money.
However, when asked if a group could receive funding if its operations did not benefit Westlock county residents, LeBlanc said it’s not likely.
“They’re either providing a service or providing something to the community,” he said. “If they’re not, why would the county agree to contribute some money towards their organization?”
