The Central Okanagan Family Hub is in danger of closing after the Ministry of Children and Family Development pulled its annual funding.
Not only that, their three year grant from United Way expired in March.
According to Katelin Mitchell, Director of Services with KCR community resources, the Hub is a great model because service providers in the community all assemble in one place.
"It's such an important resource. It's an opportunity for families to come, with very low or no barrier. People can get the support, whether they need a listening ear or a place to play with their kids."
Contrary to recent reports, Mitchell is optimistic the Hub will remain open, as they helped over 12,000 people since it opened in 2016.
She said they knew the funding from United Way would finish in March, as it was only a three year request, and have applied for funding through their regular channel.
“The ministry funding that we first received has finished and we don’t have access to additional funds through that either. We’ve been applying for other grants, some we're still waiting to hear back from and we were successful on others,” said Mitchell.
So far, they have secured $46,000 in grants and donations
They launched a fundraising campaign on May 10th called Do A Lot for A little, which will conclude with a drive-thru breakfast on June 14th.
“The reality is that we don’t require a massive amount of funds to support the hub and yet it has a very large impact,” said Mitchell.
Although the Hub was operating on $150,000 annually, for the past three years, she believes they can make it work with about $95,000 to $100,000 in total.