City's poor face uphill battle despite grant aid

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Edmonton's inner-city poor are facing an uphill battle for survival in the coming year if the province doesn't start picking up more of the financial slack, insist social service and support groups operating near the downtown core.

Although the City of Edmonton announced last week that the 1990 funding allotments for the family and community support services (FCSS) program will be increased to $3.9 million, there will still be additional stress on inner-city services, said Boyle Street Co-op director Hope Hunter.

The funding is up 4.5 per cent from last year to allow for inflation, but Hunter said the joint provincial-municipal program isn't keeping in line with the needs of the services and, as a result, those depending on them will suffer.

She said the province isn't bearing enough responsibility in dealing with the rising number of poor in the city.

"It's a question of balancing priorities. And I think preventative social services is a major priority," she said.

"I believe once again that the city has been faced with demands on its resources that have exceeded its ability to meet them."

The Boyle Street Co-op operates a counseling and drop-in center for Edmonton's inner-city poor, most of whom are Native.

Hunter said the service receives most of its "core funding" from the city, but the allotments have not been adjusted to meet the growing number of poor in Edmonton that are using the facility.

Erin Perrault, seniors project administrator for the Metis Women's Council, said her group received the same amount of funding as last year.

But it's not enough.

"Our service is expanding all the time. The funding is not able to meet the growing needs," she said.

The council received $44,000 for its Native seniors' outreach program and drop-in center. It had asked for $74,000.

Perroult said the four-year-old service needs additional staff to maintain the program, but it can't afford to increase its one full-time and one part-time personnel.

The FCSS is a 20-year-old agreement between the province and municipalities in Alberta to fund social service agencies.

The initial cost-sharing program had municipalities contributing 20 per cent and the province 80 per cent.

In recent years, the funding arrangements for Edmonton increased to 50 per cent.

Laurs Ferguson, chairman of Edmonton's support services advisory committee which allocates the funding, said the province has not kept up with the cost of living in Edmonton since 1982 which has forced the city to raise its contributions.

She said she doesn't know how much longer the city will be able to pick up the slack.

Ferguson noted that this year's city budget has been raised $179,000 more than last year, but it is still not keeping up with the cost of living and many services will suffer.

Alberta Department of Health spokesman Larry McLeanen said the province is not yet ready to release its funding budget for the year.