SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Connor can't stand the sound of fluorescent lights. So Pamela Weeks-Beaton can't take her autistic son to the grocery store.

But the widow and her other three young children need to eat. The full-time social work student said she would also like to take those children to church, maybe visit other families or even take a nap.

Since 2003, Yellowknife families with disabled loved ones have qualified for a respite worker for a few hours a week. The respite workers take the disabled family members into the community, leaving the rest of the family with some time for themselves.

"Now that's going to be gone," said Weeks-Beaton after learning federal respite care funding for Yellowknife will not be renewed after March 31, 2011. "This is going to impact all four of my kids, me and all the other families who rely on this program. This is the only break we have."

The Yellowknife Association for Community Living, which organizes the respite services, learned on Tuesday the Territorial Health System Sustainability Initiative will not be renewed by the federal government once its two-year mandate is up on March 31. The $250,000 a year respite program was funded by the initiative which replaced the former Territorial Health Access Fund (which funded respite care since it began in 2003).

"We're on the chopping block, so this means we're done," said Mimi Kennedy, director of child and family services at the Yellowknife Association for Community Living.

Some 29 Yellowknife families are scheduled to receive 6,370 hours of respite care from 26 part-time workers and one full-time coordinator during the 2010-11 fiscal year. Officials with the Department of Health and Social Services were not available to comment by deadline on whether or not other services which receive funding from the Territorial Health System Sustainability Fund, including midwifery and nurse practitioner programs, would also end or what might be done to deal with the possible loss of funding to keep the services operational.

David Ross, executive director for the Association for Community Living, said the territorial government has not stated a plan to step in where the federal government is leaving off.

"This is absolutely an essential service provided to these families," said Ross. "I would like to see some funding from the feds, territory or health authority, or from a combination of all of them."

The mandate of the respite program were two-fold. It gave primary care givers a break so they can attend to other household duties and family members or have some personal time and give the disabled family member a break and encourage them to participate in the community.

Pilot projects in Fort Smith, Deline and Aklavik are funded by the territorial Department of Health and Social Services and will not be immediately affected.

As for Weeks-Beaton, she doesn't know where to turn.

"Our respite workers came to birthday parties, over for supper and were an important part of the family team. As a single mom, this is my son's male influence in his life."

On Monday night the Yellowknife Association for Community Living will host a gathering of families, MLAs and interested members of the public at the Healthy Family Centre at 4913 47 Street at 7 p.m. to plan a way to find additional funding.

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