WESTLOCK – Twenty-four area community groups ranging from museums to art clubs, ag societies, service clubs and sports organizations looking for a piece of $170,000 in federal funds participated in a late-January workshop hosted by the Westlock Community Foundation (WCF).
WCF director Debbie McCoy, who’s the foundation’s lead on the Community Services Recovery Fund (CSRF), said they were overwhelmed by the response from Athabasca, Barrhead and Westlock groups to the Jan. 25 session held at the Westlock Inn — at the end of November 2022, federal minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould announced that the Community Foundations of Canada alongside the Canadian Red Cross and United Way Centraide Canada, would distribute $400 million via the CSRF to help a “broad and diverse range” of groups “adapt and modernize” as due to the pandemic, they’ve been most impacted by an “increased demand for services, reduced revenues, declines in charitable giving due to the rising cost of living, and a greater need to make use of digital tools as part of adapting and modernizing their operations.”
“We thought if we’d get 12 to 15 people at the workshop we’d be just thrilled and we had 37 in the room and six or seven online via Zoom (representing 24 organizations) … I think we had seating for 30, so we had to grab more chairs. It was an outstanding response and a great cross-section of groups,” said McCoy.
“I think it just demonstrates that people in our non-profits really struggled during COVID, lost membership, lost the ability to meet and had to convert to Zoom meetings. I think our non-profits are really, really hurting and COVID was a big hit on them, as well as all of us.”
Dollars via the program are meant to help groups adapt how they deliver services to support the needs of their staff and volunteers; buy computers and software; create new ways of working, such as developing new fundraising approaches; provide support for staff and volunteers, such as training, supports for mental health and wellbeing; and develop plans to receive funding from diverse sources. For more specifics, visit: https://communityservicesrecoveryfund.ca/.
Heather Baron, who McCoy called “amazing”, was hired by the WCF to help organizations navigate the application process, or even get them in contact with the correct funding stream as there are three: Investing in People, Investing in Systems and Processes; and Investing in Program and Service Innovation and Redesign.
“She’s been a great asset, because we truly want people who apply to be successful,” said McCoy.
Going forward, McCoy said the application portal closed Feb. 21 and the federal government has given them “four, clear-cut criteria” they’ll need to follow and will hand the dollars by the end of May, while the successful applicants will then have until the end of June 30, 2024, to complete their projects. Previously, WCF chairman Wayne Peyre said the minimum they’ll hand out per group is $10,000, although there’s a national stream under the same program that starts at $20,000 per.
“We have a matrix that we will be following for scoring and we’ve selected a review committee with representation from the County of Barrhead, Athabasca County and two WCF board members, as well as two community members from the Westlock area,” said McCoy.
“I just hope that everyone who applies to us will be successful and I think we’ll be able to hand out the entire $170,000.”
Setting the record straight
McCoy and Peyre both wanted to clarify that the foundation didn’t provide any of its money to be a part of the program as the $170,000 comes straight from the federal government — the foundation formed in the fall of 2021 and is built upon the $8 million estate of Florence and Albert Miller.
The foundation has yet to hand out any funds from that nest egg as Peyre has previously noted they’re currently in the process of hiring an executive director as they aim to shed more ties and be independent of the Town of Westlock — while the Millers donated their estate to the town, the municipality has turned those funds over to the foundation.
“The reason that we were even able to be a part of this federal program is because we got a number of foundation pieces in order, like CRA status and other hoops that we had to jump through,” McCoy explained. “There was federal money in 2020 as well, but because there was no foundation in our area, we weren’t able to access it.”
Ultimately, McCoy said that being a part of the CSRF will also pay dividends for the WCF as they continue to work on setting up their own granting process.
“This is really going to help us as a foundation as we move forward. The learning that we’re taking advantage of now from this is really going to help inform our future decisions,” said McCoy. “It’s been a great win-win for us for sure.”
