Organizations that provide supports for people with disabilities, mental health issues and hungry students say they're all out of creative ideas to solve their funding shortfalls.
Staff have been reduced, programs have been cut back and partnerships have been entered, but things are bad — and without more base funding, they'll get even worse, they told the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs in Chatham on Tuesday.
David Petkau, the executive director of Karis Disability Services' south district, told the story of Ali, who lived a "full and eventful life" thanks in part to supports from Karis and other provincial programs. That "ended abruptly" due to a funding shortfall, and Ali is now stuck at home and benefiting from only "limited staffing resources."
"You may think that some creative problem-solving can be engaged to find ways to accomplish these things for this one person. And you would not be wrong — if Ali was the only person this impacted," he said.
But Ali's story is the same for half of Karis' clients, Petkau said.
He thanked the government profusely for the base funding increase of 19 per cent over the last 15 years. But inflation has grown at about twice that rate, creating a $26-million funding gap and a "state of crisis" at Karis, he said.
Petkau asked for a five per cent increase in funding.
“I can attest that our (direct support professionals) and leaders across the province have sought opportunities for efficiencies, employed new and assistive technologies and developed service partnership relationships as much as possible to address this challenge," Petkau said.
Without an increase, Karis would cut services, he said.
“And honestly, we'd probably head back to some kind of institutional mentality of services rather than a true community-based, belonging, inclusion type of mentality," he said.
He's not alone.
Danielle Findlay of the Ontario Student Nutrition Program said there are now almost 30 schools on her organization's wait list in Southwestern Ontario alone.
But the program can't help them. It can't even support the schools it already has, she said, noting a large increase in immigration in the region without matching government support.
“For the first time — I've been in this program for 13 years, and last year we were hearing across the province that programs were closing after March break because they just simply did not have enough funds to sustain their programs," she said.
Ontario added $5 million for school nutrition for this school year, which works out to $4.29 per student, Findlay said. The province provides 12–13 cents per snack provided to students, while the cost of each healthy snack is about $1.50, she said.
The province provides 15 per cent of the program's funding, with the rest coming from donations, fundraising, grants and other partners.
On the fundraising front, “we're doing what we can but we're not even close to what we need," Findlay said, adding that the funding gap is “in the millions of dollars.”
Findlay asked for the government to double its spending on student nutrition from $32 to $64 million.
When IRIS Residential Inns and Services, a Windsor supportive housing nonprofit for people with mental illnesses, opened in 2002, the region had 455 beds providing similar services. Now, as smaller homes have closed, there are fewer than 300, said Anne Ryan, the executive director.
Those 150-plus people "are out around downtown still, and now they're homeless,” she said.
IRIS recently had to cut a part-time position that took residents on outings, Ryan said. It has retired staff come volunteer to take people to the movies, but it's hard to support since theatres won't give the staff free tickets, she said.
“We've become a training ground for staff to leave us to go to better jobs, with pensions, things like that," she said.
The fees are adding up, and without a five per cent funding increase, it'll have to scale back more services and potentially let another staffer go.
“It's getting scary," Ryan said. “To keep up that enthusiasm is really, really, really hard.”
The NDP called on the government to use its $5-billion-plus contingency fund to make up the gaps.
“Demand is skyrocketing, and workers are giving it their all, but the Conservative government is callously hoarding resources and making them to do more with even less," London North Centre MPP Terence Kernaghan said in a party release.
