MLA challenges businesses to get onboard, step up to the literacy plate

BY NADINE ARMSTRONG

The Hants Journal

NovaNewsNow.com

Despite learning their contract with Service Canada wouldn’t be renewed, organizers of the Computer Literacy on the Move (CLOM) program aren’t quite ready to roll over and play dead.

The non-profit Learning Network project has provided an essential service to the communities of Hants County by providing free Internet access and computer tutorials for the past eight years.

Although they no longer meet the funding mandate set out by the federal government, partners say it’s time to look elsewhere for support. Upon hearing of the funding cut, one of the first persons Community Health Board Coordinator Sandra Milbury met with was local MLA Chuck Porter.

During their Dec. 10 meeting, Porter told Milbury that many areas have been affected by recent federal government cutbacks and he suggested possible funding from the Office of Health Promotion and Protection as well as the Seniors’ Secretariat.

The same information presented to Porter has been sent to East Hants MLA John MacDonnell and West and East Hants Councils.

The Municipality of East Hants has shown overwhelming support for the project, says Noel CLOM facilitator Shanna MacDonald. She and project manager Sarah Downing presented their case during the December sitting of the Municipality of East Hants Council and were pleasantly surprised when council offered them $7,000 in funding that evening to bridge the immediate gap. The cash will allow the Noel site to stay open until March with funding for one staff person.

“I just felt like dancing,” Downing said. “It was a total surprise. They were just so interested in what we were doing.”

She said it's outlying areas such as Noel, Maitland and Kennetcook that are really going to suffer should the site shut down. “They just don't have the amenities out there and we're unique because we can take the time to really sit down with a client and go slow.”

Downing said she was disappointed, but not shocked by the funding cut. “They've funded us for eight years; that's a pretty good run. We've never really asked for funding from the provincial or municipal governments, but if we can get funding through another source we could keep going and maybe even expand.”

Downing said the program is already well grounded in the community. “We're already established here and people rely on us; we've got status in the community.”

Utilized on a daily basis

MacDonald said there’s a lot of poverty in the area and the site is utilized on a daily basis by everyone from school children working on projects to seniors who have learned how to e-mail and receive pictures of their grandchildren for the first time. She says they've also gone a long way in meeting the federal government’s employment mandate. “We've helped a lot of people find employment and have the stats to prove it,” she said.

The overwhelming support from East Hants council is a real leg up, she added. “It was just great, they were all so supportive.” MacDonald hopes a different type of funding will help them continue through public access projects.

Milbury has similar ambitions. In the best-case scenario, she'd like the program to remain free, but says a fee for service system may be the only answer in the interim if they want to keep the program available. On the Windsor end, they hope to have the same success with the West Hants Municipal Council.

Additionally, Porter brainstormed with Milbury and they have come up with a corporate challenge. It takes $500 per month to cover operational costs at the West Hants site. Porter is asking local businesses to take turns sponsoring the site each month and he put his money where his mouth is.

“It was his idea and he set the example out-of-pocket by putting up the first month’s fees,” Milbury said.