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Ilisaqsivik hopes award will lead to money

Casey Lessard
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 19, 2011

KANGIQTUGAAPIK/CLYDE RIVER
It was recently named one of the top 10 most innovative social or environmental projects in Canada, but administrators at the Ilisaqsivik wellness centre, Clyde River's biggest employer of local residents, still cross their fingers each spring for funding.

"Our funding situation is very precarious," said Jakob Gearheard, the non-profit centre's executive director. "Every March 31, we could have to close our doors. We are grateful for all of the project funding we get, but the absence of core operational or administrative funding jeopardizes our ability to operate."

Almost all of the centre's funding is project-based, with more than half of its revenue coming from the Government of Nunavut, 40 per cent from the federal government, and the rest from foundations and individual donors. To get that, Gearheard writes an average of one funding proposal every week. Because all of the centre's work promotes wellness - although much of it is related to culture, education, and other things that promote wellness - most of the funding comes from government health departments, mostly as single-year funding, hence the March 31 deadline.

As April 1 approaches, Gearheard has to determine whether he is able keep the 20 full-time, 40 part-time and many other honorarium-funded employees on the payroll as funded programs change. With a more predictable funding model, that fear could dissipate.

"You can't start and stop programs, especially suicide counselling programs, for example, or pretty soon the people in the community don't trust you any more," he said. "We feel we are providing essential services that are not being provided by the Government of Nunavut, and they could be supporting us with a percentage of our core operational funding. In order to be sustainable, we need a solution to our core funding."

Tides Canada agrees. The Vancouver-based organization, which supports social justice and environmental projects across Canada, named the wellness centre one of its top 10 projects for 2011, citing its "engagement of all parts of the community," Vice stated its Twitter feed after the Dec. 6 announcement.

Tides Canada's director of strategic programs, Dave Secord, and another representative travelled to Baffin Island this spring to find organizations that southern Canadians should support. Other organizations Tides Canada found exciting were Piqqusilirivik in Clyde River, Nunavut Arctic College's Environmental Technology Program in Pond Inlet, and the performing arts centre in Iqaluit, the last two which also lack core funding.

"Everywhere we went, we saw solutions that were homegrown and good alternatives to solutions from the south that aren't a perfect fit for the North," he said.

Gearheard says 600 of the hamlet's 1,000 residents visit the centre every day, and registrations for healing retreats - limited to 70 or 80 people - immediately exceed capacity when posted.

A "one-stop shopping for wellness activities," the centre offers 30 programs - depending on funding - for age groups from prenatal to elders. Those programs cost more than $2 million annually and Gearheard estimates the centre needs about $250,000 for basic administrative and operational costs. Despite that the centre has served the community since 1997, no one, including territorial and federal governments, has committed to a core funding regime to ensure the doors stay open.

Instead, both levels of government give program funding that includes up to 15 per cent for administrative and operating costs.

"It's a non-profit group, and because it's third party, it wouldn't be part of health and social services," health department communications advisor Ron Wassink said.

The federal government also funds the centre, but not with core funding.

"Ilisaqsivik Family Resource Centre does great work and provides a variety of services to Nunavummiut living in Clyde River," Nunavut MP and federal health minister Leona Aglukkaq stated by e-mail, noting Ilisaqsivik gets federal health funding through Health Canada's Northern Region and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

The absence of core funding is a prime motivator for Tides Canada to bring worthy causes such as Ilisaqsivik to the attention of potential donors.

The centre has launched a for-profit arm called Tukumaaq Inc. to build a funding base. Tukumaaq is pursuing film contracts to make use of video equipment at the centre, and looking at opening an accommodation facility. These projects are in their infancy, and Gearheard believes the focus should remain on government support.

"If there was the political will, they could make it happen," Gearheard said of requests to the Government of Nunavut for core funding. "And they can't afford not to. They're trying to promote wellness, and Ilisaqsivik is doing some things right. What would happen tomorrow if Ilisaqsivik were to disappear? It would be an embarrassment."

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