Peggy Revell
A local program designed to help at-risk families has received a funding boost thanks to a $7,500 donation from the RBC.
“‘Strengthening Families for the Future’ is a program that is designed to build skills and resources for families who are deemed to be at-risk for substance abuse and mental health problems, violence, or aggression,” explained Nancy Daley of the local Canadian Mental Health Association branch, one of the agencies involved with running the program.
The project ran for the first time in Fort Frances last year, and in Rainy River the fall before that.
“Both Rainy River and Fort Frances were very successful,” noted Daley, “We had families that came and were committed, and found it to be very helpful.”
But she said one of the challenges with running programs like this one is finding funding for it. So when Daley noticed this past spring that the Royal Bank funded projects meant to support children up to age 18, she submitted a proposal.
“We’re really, really thrilled to be able to put $7,500 towards the operation of this program this year,” said Heather Johnson, manager of the local Royal Bank branch, noting the RBC receives more than 10,000 donation requests a year.
Children’s mental health and children’s after-school programs are two of areas it chooses to focus on as priorities.
When talking with RBC Donations in both Winnipeg and Toronto, Johnson said they were absolutely “thrilled” and “amazed” with the “Strengthening Families for the Future” program.
“They really thought it was top-notch, and hopefully next year we’re going to get a much bigger grant,” Johnson added.
Part of the reason there wasn’t a bigger donation this year is that the RBC requires completely audited statements of the program.
“But they felt so strongly with this one, even without the audited financials, that they wanted to be part of it, and they wanted to see it succeed and go forward,” Johnson said.
Due to the amount of programs run by organizations such as the CMHA, audits on all of them are expensive—and so not done for every single program. But Daley noted that to gain more funding next year from the RBC, the local project will be audited this year.
During its first run, “Strengthening Families for the Future” ran once a week for 14 weeks, and “builds on skill development” throughout those weeks, Daley explained.
During the first hour of that one evening, they begin with a family meal.
“Which is really kind of neat because for a lot of families, that time is not there anymore the way it used to be,” she added. “So it’s really nice to be able to have that foundation to start the evening.”
Following the meal, the parents go off into one group with two facilitators while children go off into another group. For the next hour, they work on activities, discussion, and skills development.
Following that, both groups rejoin to talk about what they have learned and done, said Daley.
Then for the rest of the week, there are skills and areas that they work on and practice at home.
