Outloud, St. Albert's organization for supporting 2SLGBTQ+ youth, is closing due to a lack of adequate funding, according to Outloud's board president Kevin Malinowski.
The nonprofit had been surviving "month to month" since the tail end of COVID, Malinowski said.
It was hit with a large, unexpected legal expense recently that made its funding issues insurmountable. Malinowski could not share details surrounding the expense due to privacy concerns, he said.
"We had an emergency board meeting in the space last night ... and there were discussions galore, there was tears galore, and we talked about everything we possibly could to find a way to move forward," Malinowski said. "It came to everyone's realization that there was nothing we could do to keep moving forward ... If we took the chance and the smallest thing went wrong, staff would not get paid."
Funding sources for the organization started drying up just over a year ago, he said.
"Inflation, has been hitting everybody," he said. "People don't have what they had to donate before. And I can't blame anyone ... every organization and corporation has been getting hit hard right now."
Animus towards 2SLGBTQ+ people, especially towards transgender people, has been on the rise across Canada.
However, Malinowski said that an increasingly hostile political climate played no role in the organization's decision.
"It actually made it more difficult," he said. "Because of the way our government is, we fought harder to keep it alive ... I feel so much hurt and pain for our youth right now."
The organization has been reaching out to other groups asking for help to provide services for vulnerable 2SLGBTQ+ youth in St. Albert, as Outloud will no longer be able to provide supports.
"I'm hoping that a Phoenix will rise out of the ashes," he said. "It may not be able to replace all of Outloud, but so we can replace something."
