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| Premier Redford checks out the GGY multimedia area Shaylee Teneycke, Premier Redford, Chyme Good Rider |
Alberta Premier Alison Redford stopped in at Pincher Creek's Group Group Youth (GGY) drop-in centre on Wednesday afternoon February 12 during her whirlwind (almost literally at times) tour of southern Alberta points of interest, including the new Ikea windmill farm being constructed adjacent to Heritage Acres.
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| Photog Lauralee Jones at Premier's visit |
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| Lauralee's photo session with Premier |
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| Tracey Hoffman photo |
The alpha reporter in the room was Premier Redford herself, who sat with Teneycke away from the distractions with Ria Choe dimming the lights and running an explanatory sideshow on the wall in front of them. During the presentation Redford queried Teneycke about GGY, which received a significant CFEP grant boost in September of 2011 (click here for that story).
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| GGY facilitator Ria Choe |
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| Premier Redford and Kaitlin Speight |
"I think you received some CFEP money, is that right?" asked Redford. "Yes, and we're actually applying again for that," said Teneycke. "It's very important for keeping us running. We have a casino coming up in a month."
From our 2011 article about the CFEP grant: Pincher Creek's Group Group Youth (GGY) was presented a cheque today, September 21, by Livingstone-Macleod MLA Evan Berger. GGY is to recieve $60,000 over two years under the Government of Alberta's Community Initiatives Program (CIP). The money is to be put towards staffing costs at GGY's drop-in centre on Waterton Avenue. "It's really exciting, because we need more staff," said GGY's Lynne Tenneycke. "There's so much we want to do, but we need the staff to do it."
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| Premier Redford and Lynne Teneycke |
"If I could get more consistent funding coming in, then I could hire staff. Because you hire staff to do something and 6 months down the road it's 'sorry, but I can't keep you anymore'."
"How many staff do you have?" asked Redford.
"At this point, I only have one. The Women's Shelter manages that staff person that comes in. Mildred Crow Eagle works for the Women's Shelter, but is lent to us for one day a week."
"We do it with volunteers, but it's hard to get a volunteer to stay and work evenings and weekends, for a long period of time. But they are so helpful."
"What are your opening hours, when do you open?"
"We're officially open 3:30 to 9:00, Tuesday to Thursday. Friday its 10:00, Saturday it's 4:00 til 10:00. We have special events on Sundays, and holidays too."
"I get to travel around and meet incredible people," said Premier Redford.
"One of the things that I found when I was the Justice Minister, and I said to our new Minister of Kids, basically, Sandra Jansen (Associate Minister of Family and Community Safety), is that programs and projects and organizations like this evolve to fill a need, fill a gap, and very often the government has not changed the way that they worked here, or supports you, or asks you for information that helps you with funding," said Redford.
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"I guess part of our mandate is just meeting the needs of kids who's needs are not being met through any other avenue," said Teneycke.
"Sandra Jansen is an MLA in Calgary, and she was newly elected two years ago," said Redford. "I just asked her to take on the responsibility of Associate Minster responsible for Safe Families and Communities. She's right in the middle now of a whole series of discussions with different community agencies around the province, and I don't think she's been to Pincher Creek yet. I think she will be very interested in having a discussion with you about this. So, I would like to make sure that once she's in town, that she meets you."
"I would certainly like the chance to talk to her," replied Teneycke.
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On her way out Premier Redford was presented with a card of appreciation by some of the GGY kids.
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| Tracey Hoffman photos |
"I asked her to do it was because when I was the Justice Minister, the Safe communities project was so close to my heart, and I want to make sure we don't lose that. I think there's a lot more work that we still need to do. So I asked her to take that on. I was saying to Lynn that she will be through in the south, probably in the next month or so, and I want to make sure she has some time to sit down with you, because everything that we have been doing in safe communities has been about trying to work with volunteers, and community leaders or identifying gaps that we need to fill so we can keep making the system better."
The Group Group Youth Drop-In Centre is always looking for volunteers. Staffing issues come up almost every time we talk to Group Group Youth, and under Teneycke's care GGY has striven constantly to maintain an instructional safe haven for children. Programs like the currently ongoing Yvan LeBel photography course cannot be overestimated in terms of their far-reaching implications.
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| Premier Redford with GGY board Jim Gallup, Premier Redford, Lynne Teneycke, Susan Spencer, and Evelyn Gilbert-Gladstone |
There is ample anecdotal and statistical evidence to tell us that marginalized kids who are given a boost and had their imaginations fired up at a critical point in their young lives very often go on to become the most dynamic members of society, providing innovation and leadership above and beyond their challenging roots. They rise to the top in the arts, sciences, applied technologies and even politics. They understand deprivation and its relationship to success in ways unavailable to more advantaged young people - in short, when you're fighting all the time just to get by, and a door is opened to a brighter world, you power on through with a real hunger and a real passion.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the key comment in this piece is that of Lynne Teneycke trying to get through to the Premier just how problematic it is for an organization like GGY to maintain consistency and program momentum when it's always a crap shoot as to whether funding will be secured for the next program cycle. I have worked with many non-profits over the years as Board member and/or volunteer and cannot remember how often I have heard the same old refrain addressed to staff - "Sorry - we have to give you notice of lay off according to labour law because we don't know if we'll get our grants again this coming year." Imagine any private sector business having to operate this way and you quickly see how corrosive a situation this is.
I have no doubt as to the deep empathy felt by Ms. Redford concerning the plight of these kids. However, it has increasingly been the case in recent years that social sector non-profits are having to go cap-in-hand just to keep minimum staff and programming. And while we see rather grand and expansive PPPs (Public Private Partnerships) as that touted in the accompanying article about wind farms, there is little other than lip service paid to the much more acute reality which is the well being of our children. In a province with the highest rate of food bank use by families with children and what amounts to a punitive tax regimen for single parent families, where indeed do our social priorities lie?
'Do more with less' is what is heard from governments bent on fiscal restraint and maximization of private sector advantage. But if we were truly to apply long term cost-benefit analysis to the maximization of the potentials of our young from a societal perspective, then this sort of sloughing-off of responsibility would be seen for what it truly is - a false economy based on short-sighted goals and a pandering to the noisier elements of the marketplace.
So kudos to Lynne Teneycke and GGY - flying in the face of adversity and systemic indifference. A photo-op cheque handed over every few years is no way to do business. There is absolutely no finer investment than that which we place in our kids. Ms. Teneycke is perhaps far too gracious - maybe she should have made the Premier squirm a bit more before she let her out the door. There is no shame in standing up for those who are least well able to stand up for themselves. This ain't no charity deal - it is the deepest form of social investment.