OLDS — Town council has approved FCSS (Family and Community Support Services) grants for this year totalling $53,850.
The grants were given the thumbs-up during council’s Feb. 24 meeting.
FCSS is a program that is cost-shared between municipalities and the provincial government.
BGC Olds and Area received the lion’s share of the money: $26,050, to help cover costs for its after-school programming; summer programming; youth programming for The Zone, it’s popular youth centre; and a babysitting/Home Alone program.
Chinook’s Edge School Division received the next largest chunk, $13,335 for its Youth Empowerment and Support (YES) program.
Mountain View Emergency Shelter Society received $5,500 for its outreach and education programs.
Olds & District Special Family Voices received $3,715 to help cover costs for bi-weekly events promoting inclusion and social engagement for people of diverse abilities.
A total of $1,750 is going to the Mountain View Hospice Society for its NavCARE program that supports people living with declining health to live well at home for as long as possible.
Hope 4 MVC Kids Society, which raises money to help families cover medical costs and associated expenses, is receiving $1,300 for volunteer training and retention.
Mountain View Regional Libraries is getting $1,100 for its Comic Con event.
Also receiving $1,100 is the Olds & Area Pregnancy Support Centre for an infant massage program.
“As you may know, the Town of Olds FCSS works with other regional providers to adjudicate the grant applications received to ensure program criteria is met, funding duplication is minimized, the impact maximized,” community services director Guy Lapointe said as the grant figures were introduced.
Lapointe said eligible programs include initiatives that:
• help communities identify social needs and develop responses;
• promote volunteer work in the community;
• inform the public about available services;
• help families strengthen family life and function effectively; and
• enhance the quality of life for retired and semi-retired people as well as for children and family social development.
Coun. Heather Ryan asked if the Town of Olds holds back any money in case an issue arises.
Lead community facilitator Heather Dixon said in previous years, some money would be held back.
She said that’s now “slightly changed.” Staff now keep funds in the budget to enable them to work on programs as requested by the provincial government.
“There’s money in that line of our budget in order to partner with another group that comes into our community, or someone else in our community that is going to do some sort of a program event that fits with that alignment with the province.
“So it’s not a grant as you may remember previously when a group would come, but it’s more of a partnership opportunity and it makes sure that we are aligning with the province a little better than we would have in the past,” Dixon said.
Coun. Darren Wilson asked if organizations receiving FCSS funding are required to provide information on what was accomplished and how many people were affected as a result of the money they received.
“We absolutely must do that in order to report everything back to the province and that’s done annually, so we get all of that information,” Dixon said.
