EDMONTON – A non-profit men’s addiction recovery centre in Edmonton is worried about its bottom line, after a provincial grant it relied on was discontinued.
The Our House Addiction Recovery Centre opened its doors in 1984 as a drop-in centre for those struggling with addiction. Since then it has evolved into a year long, live-in men’s addiction recovery facility that offers residents both group and individual treatment.
“Everything that we can possibly provide them to not only deal with their addiction, but to rejoin society as a productive member,” explained Board Chair Darcy Quartly.
The recovery centre, which relies heavily on fundraising, offers these services to 58 residents at a cost of about $1.5 million per year.
“Twenty-five per cent of that comes from fundraising,” Quartly said.
Since 2008, Our House had also received funds from the provincial government through its Community Spirit Program. The grant used gaming revenues to match personal donations made to registered charities. This year, however, that grant was discontinued.
Quartly says he doesn’t understand why the grant was cut, when just last week the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC) announced it took in $1.4 billion in 2012-2013 from gaming alone.
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“Why was it cut? Especially if there’s actually more money for what the general public is told that the money collected by the government is for.”
“Lottery funds fund a lot of departments, they fund not only my department, but they fund education, health, all of (that) important other work that goes on across all ministries,” Minister of Culture Heather Klimchuk explained.
She says the elimination of the program came down to one of the many tough budget decisions the government had to make. Klimchuk also explained that when the program began, it was designed to encourage people to donate to different charities in their community, which she says helped those charities build lasting bonds and relationships.
“There was a lot of groups that were able to access funds and talk about their programs. So coupled with one of the highest tax credits in Canada, we knew it was the right program and it had done its work.”
Our House says the organization stands to lose about $8,000, but it’s not giving up. Usually the organization mails out donation forms to members in the community, but this year residents are trying something a little bit different in hopes of increasing their donation dollars.
“This year the clients themselves have actually gone out to Lewis Estates and put donation forms right in people’s mailboxes, door-to-door,” Quartly explained. “Every little bit of money helps.”
With files from Tom Vernon, Global News.
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