Chinook Arch Victims' Services is awaiting word on whether a funding increase it recently asked the provincial government for will be granted, allowing the organization to increase its services.
Roberta Hammer, coordinator of the organization, recently told town council during a policies and priories meeting that unlike some provincial government-supported agencies, funding has not been reduced and has stayed constant at $100,000 per year for the past several years. It recently submitted a funding request for 2013 to 2015 requesting the annual budget be raised to $150,000 per year, but it has yet to hear whether that will be granted.
“The services that we provide have been going up constantly. In order to … meet that service need, we need more funding to support our volunteers and more staff hours,” Hammer said in an interview.
The organization provides services in the Olds, Three Hills and Sundre detachment areas, covering Mountain View, Kneehill and Red Deer counties.
“We currently only have two part-time staff, so we would like to add a third position so that all three detachments have a person there,” she said.
Hammer told councillors that there are currently 14 volunteer advocates that assist clients with about 300 RCMP files per year ranging from the full range of criminal complaints to assistance with notification of next of kin, as well as support going through the court process. While the organization has a strong board of directors, Hammer told councillors it is more difficult to find advocate volunteers because of the nature of the work involved.
