In many ways, 2020 and 2021 have been banner years for Flagstaff Informed Relationship Sharing Team (FIRST) in spite of, or perhaps partially because of COVID-19.

An example is FIRST’s annual Dinner and Auction, cancelled this February due to the pandemic restrictions.

As FIRST’s only annual fundraiser, FFCS and FIRST Director Lynne Jenkinson decided there was nothing to lose by reaching out to the community to see if there was any interest in supporting the group by reminding it of the annual event, or this year, the ‘non-event,’ taking a tongue-in-cheek approach to replacing the funds normally raised during the annual supper.

Turns out, Flagstaff County residents, businesses, and groups were more than interested; the combined donations for the non-event totalled $19,600, surprising even Jenkinson. She says support was received from every corner of the county.

Jenkinson also recently compiled a list of 2020 and 2021 grant and other funding received for both FFCS and FIRST boards, and it’s staggering. “It’s nice to share some good news, in a year where there has been so much negativity.”

FFCS is provincially and municipally funded, with a formula of 80 per cent from the Province, and the remaining 20 per cent split between Flagstaff municipalities, at a cost of $8.70 per person, per year to do all their programming and projects.

Flagstaff FCS has also, for the past 18 years on and off, accessed a considerable amount of federal funding by providing contracted services designed to give participants employable skills. Jenkinson remembers one of these programs, back in 2003-2005, women returning to the workforce, while today’s programs focus on getting youth working.

These programs, have, for the past number of years, injected nearly half a million dollars into the community a year, by employing local facilitators wherever possible, paying participants a wage while in the program, and through local employers who employ the participants and receive a subsidy towards their wage.

Over the past few years at least 100 youth have gone through the program. Jenkinson says, “I do not know of any other FCS office in the province running one of these programs. They are a lot of work, with a lot of reporting, accountability, and responsibility.”

FFCS also accesses grant funding through the New Horizons Grants for Seniors that brings a direct benefit to seniors in the region with help in accessing government programs and benefits, as well as providing some transportation, another $23,000.

That brings the total FFCS funding flowing through Flagstaff at around $1.3 million.

FFCS also administers FIRST programs, and in 2020 and 2021, FIRST accessed grants with a value of another $300,000-plus for programming to help Flagstaff County residents.

FIRST started back in 1996 as Flagstaff’s Initiative for Relationship and Spousal Trauma, a pre-cursor to today’s Victim Services. It was a partnership between the FFCS counsellor and RCMP to address victims of domestic violence. In 2006, the Flagstaff Victim Services formed, and separated from FIRST, moving to the Killam RCMP Detachment.

FIRST also administered the RCMP Community Resource Officer program, until that was taken over by Flagstaff County.

FIRST then underwent a name change, keeping the acronym, but changing to Flagstaff’s Informed Response and Sharing Team.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY in the April 21 edition of the CP. On newsstands now or buy a digital copy below and read instantly! 

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Leslie Cholowsky
Editor