Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

RANKIN INLET (Feb 10/99) - While the Rankin Inlet Interagency Group is planning to submit a future proposal for a Healing Centre in the hamlet, it is still actively seeking funding to continue and expand upon existing programs.

In an effort to put forth the best proposals possible, the Interagency Group and the Kulaarvik Kablu Friendship Centre brought long-time Northern resident Gerry Pflueger to Rankin from her position in Alberta to bring the proposals together.

Pflueger has been in the North since 1986 and says everyone involved worked hard to meet last month's first funding deadline with the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, which has various program themes and deadlines for proposal submissions.

The first deadline was for proposals to address healing issues in the community and the Rankin proposal hopes to secure funding to expand on the early childhood intervention program at the community's Wellness Centre to better meet the community's needs as a Family Resource Centre.

The program is funded under the GNWT's Early Childhood Intervention Fund, supervised by Education, Culture and Employment. Funding is due to run out on March 31 and there is no plan for its continuation due to April's territorial split. To date, more than 100 families in Rankin have taken part in the program.

"Ultimately, what we want to do with the proposal is to include families with children of all ages, rather than the current infant to six age group," says Pflueger. "Aboriginal Healing Foundation funding goes on for 10 years. We may have to apply every year, but the proposal's intent is to put in a long-term program that will cover services for families and children with special needs.

"The early childhood intervention program has been really popular and continually growing. It has been called upon many times to work with children older than it's mandated for, so we know there's a need."

The proposal would see the program expanded to include a toy lending library, home visiting program, a parenting program that would include traditional parenting, and support for families with special needs children, including learning and developmental support. The program would also include community counselling and women's support services.

Pflueger says the key to successful programs is to find funding that will continue for at least five years. She says too often funding only lasts for a year or two and it seems as soon as the programs are up and running and people are benefitting from them, funding runs out and you have to start looking for more money.

"I was hired because I can focus entirely on my effort, rather than having to focus on another job. It's never really been one person's mandate here to look for funding across Canada to bring into the community.

"It's hard work and very time consuming to acquire this type of funding and that's why Rankin Inlet and a lot of other Northern communities miss out on a lot of available funding."