FCSS funding for Strathmore applicants

By Deirdre Mitchell-MacLean Times Contributor

Strathmore town council voted to approve recommended funding for 10 not-for-profits for the 2020-21 budget year.
Linda Bernicki, FCSS executive director, presented the 2020 funding recommendations to council on Feb. 5.
FCSS received requests for $74,600 in funding from various community programs but only had $64,000 available from the 2020 budget. Two programs received all funding they requested: Growing Families Society, based on a memorandum of understanding between the Town of Strathmore from 2017, and Meals on Wheels.
The final eight community programs and services received between $1,000 and $2,150 less than requested, including Golden Hills School Division, Canadian Mental Health, Strathmore Municipal Library, Calgary Catholic Immigration Society, Accredited Supports to the Community, Foothills Fetal Alcohol Society, Project Hope and Junior Achievement Southern Alberta.
“There’s been an increase in the percentage of (requests from) child and youth programs and services with respect to the funding,” Bernicki said. “That it is mainly due to new and enhanced partnerships that we’ve developed in the community.”
She told council that FCSS encouraged applications specifically from those who provided programming to children and youth for the 2020-21 budget year. As a result, 65 per cent of funding was allocated to those serving children aged zero to 18 while the final 35 per cent went to groups providing programming for families, adults and seniors.
Of the 10 applications being recommended for council’s approval, five were multi-year funding approvals and five were annual requests.
Those applying for multi-year grants “do not have to reapply for three years if it’s for the same initiative or program,” Bernicki said. “The other (applications) are from programs that have never applied before, so they have to receive funding from the town for three years in a row before they can be eligible for multi-year funding.”