Four local community organizations are receiving provincial grant funding as part of the second phase of Alberta’s Community Grant Funding Program. Grande Prairie MLA and Minister of Municipal Affairs Tracy Allard announced Friday that Sunrise House, the Suicide Prevention Resource Centre, the Grande Prairie Legion, and the Grande Prairie Live Theatre will split $477,000.
Sunrise House will be receiving more than $125,000, as the northernmost youth emergency shelter in Alberta. It provides shelter to youth ages 12 through 17 who have become or are at risk of becoming homeless. Allard says the funding is a huge positive for the community.
“We ran on a platform that said we would protect society’s most vulnerable, and this is an example of civil society stepping up to do just that,” she says.
Intent on providing more resources for residents throughout the community, the Suicide Prevention Resource Centre will be receiving $135,000 in funding. The organization listens to people’s stories of struggles with depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues, and helps them find hope and support through teaching coping skills and healthy behaviors. Allard says she became emotional while delivering the news.
“I actually broke down when I called with the news of this funding because I know it will make a difference right here at home,” she says.
The government is also providing more than $92,000 to the Grande Prairie Live Theatre to help with renovations to the building, including dressing rooms, interior and exterior repairs, and modernizing the theatre. According to Allard, roughly 15,000 audience members and volunteers become involved in one way or another with the theatre each year.
“This funding will allow the theatre society to complete repairs now in preparation for their next season.”
Another $125,000 is going to the Legion to help with its kitchen upgrades. The modernized kitchen is intended to benefit roughly 100 Legion members and ten community groups, as well as create local jobs in the community.