Thanks to a $125,000 grant from the province, the Catholic Family Services Society of Grande Prairie’s new building downtown is almost paid off. President Rick Adair says they’ve developed their new Family Services Centre, which is a hub for counselling, workshops and programs.
“Catholic Family Services provides counselling on a sliding fee scale; typically the people who would not otherwise be able to afford counselling services. A significant per cent of people pay zero or very little for psychological counselling.”
Adair adds that a very significant portion of their clients are youth, along with families in trouble, especially with the economic downturn. Despite its name, the agency considers itself non-denominational.
The Society moved into a bigger home on 102nd Street last year, in order to hire more counsellors and welcome more people into its programs. With the provincial funding and support from the community, Adair says they didn’t have to dip into their operational budget to do so.
“From tradespeople who provided their services for free to businesses who materials to many, many people who just walked in and gave us, in some cases, very substantial donations. The board just considers it humbling, really.”
Several other local organizations are benefiting from the latest round of Community Facility Enhancement Program and Community Initiative Program grants. The Suicide Prevention Resource Centre received $75,000 for facility renovations, just like the South Peace Horse Show got $40,000 for renos to the Evergreen Park Multi-Use Light Horse Area.
The Alberta North Destination Imagination Society has gotten $13,000 to help cover its programming costs, while the Peace Region Independent Media Arts Association got $13,500 to purchase film equipment. Lastly, the Prairie Gallery Society will get help paying for an art gallery consultant with $6,500.