STEPS Society of Red Deer is hoping there is a way to save its peer-support clubhouse for people with mental illness.
A Gathering Place (AGP) clubhouse has been around since 2011, but will lose its government funding April 30, forcing it to close unless another source of funding is found.
Located at 2830 Bremner Ave, AGP provides a social and safe environment where people living with mental illness can engage with peers in activities that promote wellness and purpose. Staff work with members to improve their quality of life and can link them to supported employment and other services.
Eve Schafer, who has been frequenting AGP for about six months and is one of the club's 91 members, said she would be heartbroken if the clubhouse had to shut down.
"It's become such a focal point of my life. It's quite literally a gathering place where I get to go spend time with other people. There's a real good chance I'll become a lot more reclusive without a place like this," said Schafer, who cheerily welcomed visitors who came through the door at AGP's open house held on Wednesday afternoon.
"I'm going to lose a lot of things if this place goes down. I'll probably cry a lot."
AGP was funded by Alberta Health Services Central Zone until recently, when Recovery Alberta took control of addiction and mental health services and cut off funding. Recovery Alberta has said its focus is on frontline services, so the clubhouse was outside its scope, and other community social programs and services are available.
Similar clubhouses in Ponoka and Wetaskiwin also lost their government funding.
The open house was held to increase community awareness of the clubhouse and meet with potential funders and dignitaries to consider possible funding options.
AGP only found out its funding was coming to an end in mid-February, and the search has been on for interim funding so the doors don't close in three weeks, as well as long-term funding.
Cindy Jensen, executive director of STEPS Society of Red Deer, said no alternative funding has been secured yet, and the open house was an opportunity to brainstorm, be creative and look for solutions.
She said to maintain the clubhouse facility, staffing and services, between $16,000 to $19,000 a month is needed.
Bobb Greig, STEPS Society board president, said it was a kick to the gut to find out Recovery Alberta was pulling the plug with such short notice.
Greig said if the doors close, members would drift away and lose the place where they can come to feel better when they're having a bad day.
"Before I found this place, I didn't have any hope. I was a wandering soul. I would find myself getting in trouble, going to places I shouldn't," said Don Hebert, who has been a regular member for two years.
He said without AGP, he would be alone again.
"Community has become very important."
