Government funding freeze hits Nova Scotian non-profit organizations

Officials from the Department of Community Services are
patting themselves on the back because they didn’t slash funding to
nonprofit community organizations, but many ground workers think the
department’s priorities have been wrong for years.

In April, the department froze the budget for over 200 organizations
provincially at $230 million. Community Services spokesperson Linda
Laffin says a frozen budget “is actually good news” during economic
recession, as funding could have been cut.

Laurie Ehler, executive director of Bryony House, doesn’t buy the
recession excuse.

“For the government to use economic downturn as a reason to not give
us money, it’s a little bit difficult to swallow, since it didn’t give
us money when the economic situation was good,” says Ehler.

Bryony House, Halifax’s only shelter for victims of domestic
violence, hasn’t seen an operational budget increase since 1996.

The centre’s services are crucial, says Ehler, as one in 12 women in
Nova Scotia will suffer from abuse from an intimate partner in her
lifetime. Last year, the 24-bed shelter took in around 470 women and
children fleeing abusive situations. Many stayed at Bryony House longer
than anticipated because they had nowhere else to go.

Community Services gave Bryony House roughly $900,000 this year, but
Ehler says it’s getting tough to make ends meet when running a 24-hour
service.

Bryony House isn’t the only nonprofit struggling to provide its
services with a tight budget. Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Nova
Scotia, an organization providing mentors to at-risk youth, faces
financial crisis as well. The organization has grown around 400 percent
in the last 20 years without an increase in funding from Community
Services, says Carol Goddard, the Halifax branch’s executive director.
The group now lacks the resources to match 1,500 children across the
province on waiting lists with mentors.

Though many other nonprofits are hesitant to denounce the government
for a continuous funding freeze, a look at Community Service’s public
accounts shows that many organizations have a grim financial
picture.

Organizations like Avalon Centre for Sexual Assault, Alice Housing,
the Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre, the Single Parent Centre in
HRM, Stepping Stone, Spencer House Seniors Centre and others have had
funding frozen for a decade or longer.

Margaret Fraser, executive director of the Federation of Community
Organizations explains that funds to these organizations have
essentially been cut.

“It has been so long since many agencies have had a cost-of-living
increase, not to mention any other increases, that maintaining the
present funds equates to a decrease in funding,” says Fraser.

Some see the funding freeze as symptomatic of systematic errors
within the department, including a lack of communication between
government and community groups and a reliance on federal funding.

The provincial government announced $128 million for affordable
housing, obtained through a federal partnership. But NDP MLA Marilyn
More, who’s calling for increased funding to women’s groups, transition
houses and family resource centres, isn’t impressed by the housing
stimulus.

“They’re using federal money that’s already been announced and
that’s coming into the province to replace the provincial funding and
commitment,” says More.

That money doesn’t trickle down to groups providing services other
than housing.

Fraser calls it a “tragedy” that local organizations lost the
opportunity to discuss the needs of their clients with government when
Community Services issued the April funding freeze. Though a
Collaboration Agreement was signed between the province and the
voluntary sector in December, calling for increased discussion and
shared accountability, there haven’t been signs of more open dialogue
from government.

“Community Services didn’t meet with the partner charities,” says
Goddard, “before the decisions (to freeze funding) were made.”

After the June 9 election, organizations may get another chance to
lobby Community Services to discuss funding options matching the actual
needs of their clients.

“I, for one, look forward to that opportunity,” says Fraser.

This article appears in May 21-27, 2009.