SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The Centre for Northern Families serves more than 3,500 people in Yellowknife a year but it can't operate on an insufficient budget, said the centre's executive director, who called the organization's $350,000 debt inevitable.

Arlene Hache, executive director, and Cindy Ring, shelter worker, put away some food in the kitchen at the Centre for Northern Families. - Elizabeth McMillan/NNSL photo

"Other groups would say, 'we won't do what needs to be done without money,'" said Arlene Hache. "We don't have that luxury when we have women who are on the street without us."

Hache said the centre has always run a deficit because they wanted to keep operating. She estimated the overrun of core "essential costs" has amounted to $30,000 per year.

"We were looking at cutting costs but there's only so much you can do without scaling back," she said, adding the centre doesn't keep a waiting list and only turns women away when they have a history of violence and could be a danger to others.

Hache said this was no accident; the centre knowingly slipped into debt because they don't receive enough government support.

Hache said women who stay at the shelter come from all over the territory and Nunavut, are mostly Inuit and First Nations, and many have struggled with violence, addictions and mental health problems.

"The women tend to marginalized and not accepted in other places," she said.

"They're very strong, very courageous women with an incredible sense of humour ... but they also struggle with the impact of colonization, of poverty, of violence perpetrated against them by their families and communities."

The centre is "pretty full," said Hache, accommodating 20 to 23 women. Many women have been in the facility for months of years because there are no transitional facilities that help them get back on their feet, said Hache. She said some women work while others continue to struggle with addictions.

The centre is more than an emergency shelter for women who've experienced violence, said Hache. It's also community centre operating a variety of programs, from day care for 20 kids, to pre-natal classes, a medical clinic, youth and mental health programs open to the community.

The centre draws in funding – the total operating budget is approximately $900,000 – but Hache said that much of the money granted to social programs is tied to those activities. It's often not up to the centre how the funds are distributed, she said. A grant for an art-based project for kids can't necessarily help pay the building's rent or maintain the shelter.

Hache, who received the Order of Canada on Nov. 5 for her work helping Northerners with social justice and human rights issues, said the $30,000 core funding the non-profit organization receives from the GNWT has barely increased since 1995 and she said the operational costs for the building and staff are closer to $100,000. She said insurance alone has gone up from $3,000 in 1995 to $24,000 today.

Unlike other organizations like the Salvation Army of the YMCA, Hache said the centre doesn't have national infrastructure to help offset costs when it runs into financial trouble, or the nationally-recognizable brand to help with fundraising. Hache doesn't begrudge the other organizations for what she calls an "appropriate level of funding," but said she hopes the territorial government considers giving the centre comparable funding.

Hache brought her concerns to the legislative assembly at the beginning of the November where government officials indicated to her the territorial government was committed to keeping the centre open. The GNWT hired a financial planner to help assist the organization assess its financial needs.

Hache hopes the planner will be able identify the gap in the non-profit organization's needs with the funding they now receive and bring that to the government's attention.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Services confirmed the department, along with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, is committed to keeping the centre open and will be working to identify and resolve funding issues, and to develop a long-term business plan.

Health and Social Services Minister Sandy Lee declined to speak on the topic.

Hache said if the money given from the GNWT increased and was able to cover core costs like rent, utilities, and salaries, donations from local businesses could pay off the deficit.

That advisor is expected to finish the assessment in the next two to three weeks.