The Airdrie Food Bank (AFB) and Airdrie and District Victim Assistance Society (ADVAS) won’t be receiving a boost to the money they receive from the City of Airdrie through provincial Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) funding after Airdrie City council voted against increasing the two groups allocation at the Jan. 19 council meeting.
Council had originally approved the allocation of $762,548 in total FCSS funding to six non-profit agencies at the Nov. 17, 2014 meeting, with both the AFB and ADVAS receiving less funding than they had in 2014.
A total of $11,264 was allocated to the AFB, down from $25,145 in 2014. ADVAS received an allocation of $52,424 down from $65,000 in 2014.
At the Dec. 15, 2014 meeting, council asked staff to compile information regarding how they and the Community Services Advisory Board (CSAB), the committee charged with recommending how the FCSS funds should be allocated, determined the allocations for the AFB and ADVAS. Mayor Peter Brown indicated he felt both groups, particularly the AFB, should receive more funding.
Team Leader of Community Development and Social Planning Clay Aragon explained programs funded by FCSS must be preventative in nature.
“What that means is they provide opportunities for individuals and families to help themselves,” Aragon said.
The reason ADVAS and the AFB had received lower levels of FCSS funding, was because of an audit of the FCSS program by the province in 2013 that eliminated support for operating costs relating to the volunteer management. The programs both ADVAS and the AFB had applied for to FCSS were for their volunteer coordination and were therefore ineligible. The audit report was presented to the CSAB at the May 12, 2014 meeting and was used by the CSAB in making their recommendations, according to Aragon.
Additional funding from the City is allocated to eligible groups under a program called FCSS Plus. This allows the City to bump-up funding beyond what is available from the province. The FCSS Plus funding approved by council for 2015 amounts to $95,499 or 25.5 per cent of the total $762,548 FCSS funding. An additional $15,244 is allocated to the groups in the form of a Cost of Living Allowance (COLA.)
At the Jan. 19 council meeting, Aragon presented this information to council along with two options that would allow the funding for both ADVAS and the AFB to be increased by supplementing the funds available through FCSS Plus. According to Aragon both options would have implications, including building an expectation that this would happen in subsequent years and sending a message to the other groups funded by FCSS that they could also receive funding for costs ineligible under the program.
Mayor Peter Brown said he felt funding for the AFB should be increased because the organization has just moved into a new, much larger building, however, Aragon pointed out that the funding requested was to support their volunteer coordination only.
Alderman Kelly Hegg, who chairs the CSAB, said “The fact is we have a process and I’m a little worried about the message we’re sending here. What about the Boys and Girls Club? What about mentoring? What about the other groups that have come forward? I’m worried about the fairness given the limited funding we have. Is one agency more valuable or more necessary than another? I struggle with saying no, and I struggle with saying yes. I’m not sure how we’re going to communicate this to the other groups, particularly given we have a process.”
Deputy Mayor Allan Hunter who had made a motion to approve the funding on a one-time-only basis, withdrew the motion upon hearing the funds would go to volunteer position staffing.
Brown then made the same motion but it was defeated with only Hunter and Brown voting in favour.
