FCSS grant funding recently passed by council

During the February 22 Whitecourt Town Council meeting, council discussed the Family & Community Support Services Grant Program (FCSS). Each year, groups and organizations apply to receive funding through the program and, following a thorough evaluation of each application, the Community Services Board provides a recommendation to council.

FCSS Manager Sharon Shannon explained that the FCSS organization’s goal is to enhance the social well-being of individuals, families, and the community through prevention. “The FCSS grant is an annual grant that provides financial support to community organizations and groups who are striving to address community and social needs,” explained Shannon. This year’s 2021 interim town budget includes $50,000 for supporting groups through the FCSS grant. “This grant is unique. It can be used to support one-time projects and be used for annual operations for organizations and groups. Community groups or organizations are not limited to how often they can apply for this grant so long as the project or program fits FCSS criteria and aligns with priorities identified in the community services annual planning sessions as well as councils annual planning sessions or if their project aligns with priorities through the Province of Alberta.”

In November of 2020, FCSS put out a call for applications for the grant and all applicants were scored by certain criteria. “They are accessed on if their proposed strategy is best practice to meet outcomes, on how many community residents they are serving through their community program or project, on if there is volunteer involvement in their program or project, if their budget is realistic, on their financial need, and on what the social return on investment would be,” detailed Shannon.

Four groups put forward applications for 2021 funding. The McLeod River Primary Care Network created pocket-sized community resource guides that provide essential information on local and provincial social supports. The FCSS funding would enable them to print and distribute more guides. The Wellspring Family Resources & Crisis Centre applied for funding to host a Canadian documentary film followed by a workshop at Vista Theatre. The Community Lunch Box (CLB) applied for funding towards volunteer coordinator positions and training, and Soaring Eagle Support Services (SESS) applied to help fund a program manager/centre coordinator.

“The Community Services Advisory board’s recommendation is to support all four grants for $29,560.00. This will leave $20,350.00 of unspent budgeted funds in our FCSS grant program. The excess funds will remain in the FCSS budget. There will not be another call for more applications to spend the remainder. The Town of Whitecourt exceeds their 20 percent of funding to our FCSS program annually, and the balance of the funding will be used to reduce their annual overcontribution,” explained Shannon.

Councillor Pickard asked if the Community Lunch Box, funded through the FCSS grant over several years, would be expecting the same funding each year. Shannon explained that they had funded them for several years for their long-term coordination position. She imagined that they would continue applying, knowing that the grant does not prohibit them from doing so. Councillor Pickard then brought up the fact that the town carries the mortgage on the building that houses the Community Lunch Box. “My concern is that the FCSS allotments that are presented to us seem strikingly to me to be provincially mandated initiatives. If this is within our policy, then I am fine with it, but I would like to have that discussion, please.”

As a member of the Community Services Advisory Board, Councillor Schlosser chimed in. “It does meet the FCSS funding criteria, but I guess the larger question is, when do we pick up the ball for the province’s problem? And it seems to be that they have dropped the ball on several projects. Basically, they have said, this is the money you are getting, and if you want to offer this many programs, you are on your own, and it is a bit unfair for the municipality. Fortunately for these groups, they have done some good work in our community, but we are also kind of a “have community” that has the cash. If we were a community that did not have the cash, regardless of if we had good groups doing work in our community, they simply wouldn’t be getting the money from the province or us because the money wouldn’t be there.”

Councillor Pickard’s questioning was not meant as a negative strike against the CLB but rather an inquiry into why the municipality is continuously funding provincially mandated programs. He then brought up the regional impact of both the CLB and SESS. “They help residents regardless of if they live in the town or the county. They seem to be regional. The CLB feeds kids at the school, whether they be from the town or the county and the same with Soaring Eagle. We do not ask where they are from when they walk in the door, I am assuming. Do our county partners have any contributions to these initiatives?” Administration responded to Councillor Pickard that they were not certain how the county allocates their FCSS funding but would follow up on it.

Councillor Chauvet then joined the questioning. “As I recall, FCSS used to be an 80/20 split with the province and municipality. Now it is more the reverse. My question is, as a volunteer and a non-profit, when you start funding for staff, then that’s not volunteerism anymore. Where do we draw the line in non-profits when we provide funds for staff?” Shannon explained that volunteer coordination is a pillar of the FCSS. “That is definitely a provincial priority and a priority of ours to promote volunteerism and support volunteers. These organizations have a number of volunteers. Even though our FCSS coordinator does recruit and handoff volunteers to different organizations, there is no way we could undertake the number of volunteers that these organizations oversee. So, that was one of the reasons for supporting volunteer coordination positions because, as an FCSS, we have one program coordinator, and she would not be able to undertake and oversee all those volunteers and the good work they do in the community.” Council plans to discuss potential changes to the funding criteria in the future. A majority vote approved the 2021 funding of 5-2. Pickard and Chauvet were the two votes against.