Province surprises Grande Prairie youth centre with abrupt stop in funding

The Cool Aid Society building in Grande Prairie, Alta. on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. The Cool Aid Society announced that after 45 years in the community, it may need to close its doors at the end of March after the abrupt loss of provincial funding. (Jesse Boily)

The Cool Aid Society in Grande Prairie announced Friday it may need to close its doors next month after 45 years of service due to an abrupt loss of provincial funding.

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The funding loss will leave about 300 families and 25 to 70 youths who drop in daily without the youth centre that offers mental health support, learning activities and a connection to their community.

“An absolute surprise,” is how AmandaBeret Gerber, Cool Aid Society financial director, described her Jan. 21 meeting with the provincial funder, which informed the society funding would cease on March 31.

“The concept of our entire program was no cost for the after-school and evening programs, so the money we received for this, essentially losing the government funding, was about 90 per cent of our funding we wouldn’t be able to offer that program to keep our doors open, and keep the staff on.”

The cut in funding comes without prior notice in the decade-long partnership, said the Cool Aid Society.

“I conveyed my dismay to them as eloquently as I could,” said Gerber.

She said that funding provides about $17,000 per month: the society’s monthly operational costs are about $20,000 to $22,000. Additional funding from the City of Grande Prairie and Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) keeps the programs afloat.

On Tuesday, the society requested $60,000 of the city’s Public & Protective Services Committee to help maintain status quo until the end of the school year while also giving it time to explore other funding.

Gerber says the provincial funder told her the funding cancellation was “nothing personal” but rather a change in the province’s mandate to fund intervention rather than prevention.

“This was not just a budget adjustment; it was a decision that impacts an entire community,” read the society’s release issued last Friday.

The Cool Aid Society is a place for youth to engage in activities no matter their socio-economic situation.

“Our biggest goal was to create an inclusive space that goes beyond demographics and socioeconomics. It is a safe haven that everybody can come to and feel a part of,” said Gerber.

If the society were to begin charging for its services, it feels there would be families who cannot afford its services.

“We’ve definitely had a few youths who may have some behavioural issues that we’ve just seen thrive,” said Gerber, noting parents will come back surprised by the changes in their child within two or three months.

The Cool Aid Society has been working on creating programs that are both preventative and intervention-based by partnering with other local organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters and Sunrise House, said Gerber.

After releasing the news of its potential closure, Cool Aid Society has received an outpouring of support from the community, said Gerber, noting some are even looking to run fundraisers for the society.

Still, Gerber says, “We really do need to secure a permanent contract of some kind to keep the doors open” to ensure consistent funding.

Over the past year, the society has made cuts, including consolidating all its programming to a single building.

“We’ve done every possible cut we could in the last year, knowing that we were already over budget,” said Gerber.

“We have spent the last year applying for new grants, exploring alternative funding sources, looking at converting our space for drop-in all-day care, and launching active fundraising initiatives, including an upcoming casino night in March. Despite our best efforts, we are still short of what is needed to remain open without that fixed monthly contract beyond March 31, 2025,” said the society in a release.

AB Munis board member and city Coun. Dylan Bressey said, “In my role at Alberta Municipalities, I have the privilege of visiting councils across the province, and this is the number one concern that gets raised with me by every single council, is that they’re having to pick up these provincial downloads to sustain programs that their communities absolutely rely on, but the province isn’t funding anymore or isn’t funding adequately.

“The province is cutting programs that local communities have come to rely on, and it’s often looked at to the municipality for it to make up the difference, which is difficult when we see increasing pressure in our property tax bill, from escalating costs, from provincial downloads and just the cost of everyday living for our residents getting tighter and tighter.”

He said all Albertans are currently struggling, and the most vulnerable are increasingly losing systems they can rely on unless municipalities help.

“We’ve got families, many of whom are low income that absolutely relies on the service, and so are their kids going to be safe after school; are their kids going to be able to have positive engagement after school; I don’t know, and that’s a loss not just to their families, but the community as a whole.

“If we’re not giving these kids what they need at a young age to thrive, that will cost taxpayers way more money in the long term.”

He said he sees that Cool Aid is sustained by incredible staff and volunteers working tirelessly to align its programming with its funding.

Bressey noted that other provincially funded programs for things such as children in low-income families, people with disabilities, and victims of sexual assault are losing the programming they rely on.

“I don’t understand why decisions to focus on intervention over prevention continue to get made.

“Prevention is so much better for people, society at large, and long-term costs to taxpayers.”

Bressey says the province needs to give volunteers, staff, and families of these organizations more time to prepare for significant changes.

“We need a more cohesive, thoughtful, long-term view and approach to how we make these decisions.

“Municipalities really are feeling the pinch right now; they collect about 10 per cent of tax revenue and deliver the majority of frontline services that Albertans rely on every single day, and we really are hitting a point where, with reduced funding and increased pressure on municipalities, things just aren’t remaining sustainable.”

- Jesse Boily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Town & Country News