By Cindy MacDougall
A safe place for youth in Centretown is facing a financial crisis and may close down for good.
The Door is a youth drop-in centre at the Dalhousie Community Centre on Somerset West. Cindy Dickinson, a student volunteer, says it is a lot more than a place to hang out.
“It’s a place where youth can come and get help with their homework, jobs skills counselling, and belong,” says Dickinson. “We try to empower youth and give them the skills they need to survive.”
The centre may not be providing any of these services by the end of next month. It is in danger of closing at the end of April if it does not receive funding from the region, the Community Foundation of Ottawa-Carleton and Human Resources Development Canada.
The Door has applied for about $35,000 from the region, says Debra Andrews, one of the centre’s co-ordinators. The centre has also asked for $5,000 from the community foundation.
Finally, The Door has requested a $140,000 grant from the human resources department to start a greeting card business, says Andrews. Only $20,000 of this money will go to the centre, with the rest going to the young entrepreneurs involved.
The human resources department and the community foundation will make their decisions at the end of this month, but the region’s Social Services Committee will not announce which projects it is funding until mid-May.
Dick Stewart, commissioner of social services at the region, says there are 27 more funding requests this year, increasing the total number to 120. Only about 21 of those will be given grants, he says.
Even though The Door has never been directly funded by the government, Dickinson says provincial cuts are affecting the centre’s funding to a point of crisis.
“The money just has not been there lately,” she says. “Agencies who have funded us in the past are choosing other groups now, who used to get government funding.”
The Door now relies on funding from Nevada lottery tickets and Trillium, a charity agency similar to the United Way.
The lack of funding has already affected The Door, says Kim McLeod, the centre’s other co-ordinator. The centre had to shut for three weeks in December because of money problems. It has also stopped serving dinner, a program which was a big draw for homeless youth who visit the centre, says McLeod. Also, The Door has reduced its hours. It is no longer open on Mondays, Fridays or weekends.
Numbers of youth visiting the centre have dropped from over 20 a night before Christmas to about five a night. McLeod says this is not caused by disinterest but by the cutbacks in services and hours. With less programs to offer, fewer youths show up.
Youth services across the region have been affected by government cutbacks to social services. Don Bennett, fundraising co-ordinator for the Ottawa-Carleton Boys’ and Girls’ Club, says the club is managing to survive.
Jeremy Lamarche, 17, has been coming to The Door since the first day it opened.
“It was really exciting,” he says. “We had a pizza party and arcade games. I was 14.”
Lamarche says he learned leadership and job skills at the centre.
“My first job was here, cleaning on Saturdays,” he says.
“I made $20 every two weeks. When you’re 14, $20 is a lot of money.”
“It’ll be too bad to see it go,” he says. “Where will the younger kids go?”