BURST
A non-profit that provides workshops and social events for people in B.C. with disabilities is warning that it will have to shut down operations by the end of the summer after the province decided not to renew its funding.
Operators of Vancouver-based Curiko say they were informed last August that annual funding of $1.2 million it has received for several years will be ending in March.
“In B.C., there’s been a commitment since the ’80s to deinstitutionalize people with developmental disabilities, but the reality is that a lot of people’s days are still really lonely. They’re reliant on paid staff, and there’s not a lot of mutual relationship or community inclusion,” said Dr. Sarah Schulman, team lead for Curiko.
The loss of funding for Curiko, which has roughly 400 clients, is one of the latest examples of how the province’s attempts to rein in spending amid a $13.3 billion deficit has impacted an array of sectors — health authorities and the public service face thousands of job cuts, programs that support families with sick kids face new restrictions, and development of several long-term care facilities and redevelopment of a hospital have been halted.
Community Living B.C. is a Crown agency that oversees the care of over 30,000 British Columbians with a range of disabilities, such as autism and Down syndrome, who require daily care.
Even after receiving an $81 million funding boost in the province’s most recent budget — giving it a budget of $1.9 billion — the agency chose not to renew funding for Curiko because it fell outside of its “core” mission, said Social Development and Poverty Reduction Minister Sheila Malcolmson.
The minister said that most Community Living funding goes to contractors who provide services to people with disabilities that are tailored to individual plans created by case workers. Contractors help with cooking and cleaning, finding employment, and access to day-program activities, such as going to the pool or arts and crafts.
Curiko’s services, on the other hand, aren’t tailored to specific client needs, and its funding comes from a small discretionary fund that Community Living is given by the province, the minister said.
Malcolmson said it is her understanding that Curiko was the only program that Community Living decided to cut as it wasn’t tied to individual needs.
Community Living’s core function is providing community-inclusion supports that are “tied to one individual at a time,” she said.
Schulman said Community Living has been a collaborator for many years, and it is disappointing to them that they have reverted to funding “core or essential services.”
She said Curiko grew out of research that showed how social isolation can negatively impact people with developmental disabilities such as autism. It offers a diverse array of online programming for people with disabilities who may not be able to make it out in person.
“It started, actually a decade ago, with a team of us moving into a social housing complex in Burnaby and really trying to understand the lived experience of people that had been moved out of institutions,” said Schulman.
The non-profit’s website lists coming events ranging from karaoke to book clubs, and a hangout for hockey fans.
These could all be gone as soon as August, which is when Curiko’s funding will run out.
Schulman said the organization has urged its attendees to write to their local MLA protesting the funding cuts, and expects to see around 130 letters sent out. Curiko has set up a Substack discussion forum where they are posting some of the letters.
Bella Brouse, a coach with Curiko, said she got involved with the organization a few years ago as a participant and later transitioned into leading workshops.
She says that, as someone who has autism, she has always been rather shy and reserved, but the programming run by Curiko helped bring her out of her shell.
“I was so isolated before I found Curiko. I didn’t have any friends, I didn’t have community, and their support and long-term mentorship has truly changed and impacted my life and gives me the ability to help other people. So I don’t really know what will become of our community without it,” said Brouse.
Vernon resident Meredith Norton said her son Adrian, who has severe autism, has had to schedule his Community Living day programs and other family events around the Curiko workshops because he won’t miss them.
She said that when he first started attending them during the COVID pandemic he would just observe but wouldn’t say too much. Now she said that he is one of the most-engaged in every session.
“For the first time in his life, he feels a real sense of belonging to this community of people. And it’s just like old home week when they get online, you can just hear them all chattering and laughing and enjoying each other’s company, albeit online.”
Larissa Gunkel, a 42 year-old Burnaby resident, said the sense of community among people who participate in Curiko’s programs is strong, with several members of the non-profit visiting her while she has been in hospital for the past three months due to flesh-eating disease.
After having her leg amputated, Gunkel is moving to a group home. She said that without Curiko she isn’t sure how she will cope with the transition away from independent living.
“It would be a shame for it to close, because it would really affect the inclusion community and people out in the community with our overall well-being and our overall health and our existence,” she said.