A campaign to get core funding for PoCoMo Youth Services has netted a $100,000 provincial grant and that, says executive director Jerome Bouvier, proves the value of the program supporting at-risk youth.
The grant from B.C.'s Ministry of Children and Family Development is the third from the province this year. PoCoMo also received $25,000 from the proceeds of crime program and $76,000 in gaming grants to keep its Project Reach Out bus, serving Tri-Cities youth, running on weekends.
"The provincial grants received, along with the $100,000 additional grant, is a strong recognition that our services are valued and needed," Bouvier said in an email.
The funding announced by MCFD minister Stephanie Cadieux this week is seen as good news by Coquitlam-Burke Mountain MLA Douglas Horne, who told The Tri-City News he hopes it leads to core funding for the group in the future.
"In the absence of the core funding this year, we've been able to deliver the amount of core funding that [executive director] Jerome has been advocating for some time," Horne said. "I hope to see it for the future."
Typically, it costs about $125,000 a year to run the bus but PoCoMo generally runs from grant to grant, and last year made some cuts in anticipation of funding running out.
Bouvier said the organization has never had any stable funding but acknowledges there are many challenges.
"Our hope is that this is a beginning to securing some level of ongoing provincial dollars in the future."
The society was started in 1992 by a group of community activists, led by Diane Thorne, the Coquitlam-Maillardville NDP MLA who is retiring.
The bus runs on weekends in the Tri-Cities and a similar service was started in Langley, providing youth with access to counselling, supports and sex and drug education.
More information about the program is available at www.pocomo.org.
