Wheatland FCSS modifying services and funding

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Wheatland Family and Community Support Services (WFCSS) continues to offer help to county residents despite the challenges presented by COVID-19. And it’s now helping groups attain new provincial funding.
On March 17, the government of Alberta announced $30 million in funding to support community responses to the COVID-19 public health crisis, of which $14 million will be allocated to municipalities outside of Edmonton and Calgary.
Groups within Wheatland County are eligible to receive funding through this program, to support a broad range of services, from “at-home help for seniors, crisis and helplines, food security issues, emotional and mental health counselling, or any other identified community issues,” according to WFCSS.
WFCSS is accepting applications, which will be assessed by the provincial government, said Lynne Walker, WFCSS chief administrative officer.
“Their application is vetted through us, sent up to Edmonton, then Edmonton makes the decision if they get the funding and how much of their ask they get,” she said.
While Walker said charitable, non-profit organizations are “encouraged” to apply for funding, “it could also just be a group of people, if they have some creative way of helping out in the community,” she said.
“If there’s a group of people in the community that (for example) can come up with some great plan for babysitting (or) childcare, then they would be eligible.”
Existing WFCSS services continue to be provided to residents, with the addition of new precautionary measures to limit the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Subsidized counselling remains the “first and foremost” focus area provided by FCSS considering the nature of the crisis, said Walker.
“This whole event – it doesn’t even matter how long it goes on for – there will be people that this will impact for quite some time.”
According to Walker, the Good Food Box, an effort to provide healthy food to county residents at “very, very reasonable prices,” has proved to be particularly popular since the advent of the crisis. “The numbers are rising exponentially,” said Walker.
The food boxes are being provided via curbside pickup to limit the potential spread of the virus.
“We modified it so no one will come in the building,” she said. “Customers drive up, phone in, and we take their box and put it outside the door, and they pick it up.”
WFCSS is also providing its Volunteer Income Tax Program, an initiative to provide free tax services to low income residents in a way to maintain social distancing.
“We have a box outside our building; we make arrangements so we know what time they are coming,” said Walker. “They drive into the parking lot, we see them coming in, and we go out and put the paperwork into this box. There’s no contact at all.”