BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN
The Child Find Northern Regional Office in Sudbury might have to close its doors if it doesn?t get some financial assistance soon.
Ontario Trillium Foundation funding ran out in the spring. The office is barely surviving on the few dollars Child Find?s provincial branch can spare, says regional manager Pat Jobin.
Nearly 21,000 children are reported missing in Ontario every year. Through the efforts of police, communities and Child Find, 90 percent of these children are brought home safe.
?I really think our children in the north should have all the advantages children in southern Ontario have when it comes to fingerprinting and streetproofing them, and learning about the dangers of hitchhiking,? Jobin says.
?All these programs cost money, and without funding from the community, the northern regional office is in jeopardy of having to close.?
While she is considering applying for more Trillium money, she?s not sure Child Find will qualify. The provincial funding is supposed to be for new projects, explains Jobin. The way things are going, the regional office could close sometime in 2005, leaving behind only local volunteer branches in
Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. Jobin has reduced her office hours to 15 hours a week.
She is launching a campaign aimed at finding corporate sponsors.
?I?m hoping once they see what wonderful work Child Find is doing on behalf of the children in our area, they will financially support us.?
The regional office opened on York Street in 2002 to act as a permanent hub for Child Find in the northeast.
The regional office would need about $100,000 a year to operate at a reasonable level, says Jobin. But it?s going to be hard to fundraise that kind of money in Sudbury right now, she says.
?There?s so many charities out there vying for the same dollars,? she says. ?With the unemployment rate in Sudbury, and with our young people leaving . . . . some charities unfortunately had to leave Sudbury.?
Jobin is being backed by Nickel Belt MPP Shelley Martel. Martel has been supporting Child Find locally since 1998, and has written a letter of endorsement for Jobin?s fundraising packages. Martel will help Jobin re-apply for Trillium funding with a letter of recommendation.
?Looking out for missing and abducted children is very, very important work.? For more information, phone 671-9888.
