Rural crisis centre up against funding cut

A rural crisis centre for sexual assault survivors is scrambling after its federal funding was cut at the end of March, putting a long-term counselling program in jeopardy.

Survivor’s Hope Crisis Centre provides sexual violence services and resources in the Interlake and eastern Manitoba. The centre, founded in 2003, added counselling to its sexual assault recovery and healing program about five years ago. It offers free long-term counselling, advocates for victims and helps with legal issues.

“It is so vital for the care that’s available to survivors in our region,” said executive director Coral Kendel.

“We are the only resource centre in the Interlake-Eastern area that provides care for sexual violence specifically… It’s a 61,000-square-kilometre region that would now be unsupported (without funding).”

She said the federal justice department informed Survivor’s Hope on April 3 that funding was discontinued for budgetary reasons.

Kwame Bonsu, a justice department spokesman, said the centre received a three-year funding commitment of $168,849 in April 2021 to develop the program, as part of the department’s victims fund. The commitment was only for a set time period. In addition, the department gave the centre $10,000 in 2022 and $9,000 in 2023 for other activities.

Kendel said the centre was aware the initial funding was for a three-year period — until federal government officials said the department was looking to fund such programs again last December.

“We didn’t have expectation for it to necessarily continue,” said Kendel, who still holds out hope the federal government will reverse its decision.

“It came as a great surprise, based on that information and based on the relationship that we had with them, and the important successful work that we’ve been doing, to receive notification from them that they were not continuing funding for us.”

Kendel said Survivor’s Hope will continue to offer some programs, regardless of the funding loss, but the recovery and healing program is of particular importance.

“We do have various funding streams, so our other programs are able to continue to exist. We can still offer workshops for youth in schools, do community events, offer 24-7 crisis support at Interlake-Eastern hospitals and RCMP detachments. However, our long-term counselling and healing groups, legal navigation, drop-in, ongoing support, is what is compromised,” she said.

She said centre workers receive disclosures of harm from students, for example, who are then referred to the healing program. Now, they’ll need to be referred to services elsewhere and travel away from their communities.

“It really compromises the care that’s available for folks,” said Kendel.

The centre has turned to an online fundraiser on GoFundMe to try to raise the $75,000 it needs to run the program for another year, but has only raised about $3,300.

The Manitoba government has offered $25,000 in emergency funding, said Kendel. A spokesman for Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said the government is committed to working with the centre to ensure services aren’t disrupted.

The centre has also appealed to the local MP, Conservative James Bezan, to look into the matter.

Winnipeg Centre New Democrat MP Leah Gazan spoke in the House of Commons last week. She questioned the funding cut and accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of being a “fake feminist.”

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca