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From the Chair: Rising to the Challenge

Frances Grunberg

As many of our readers know, there have been dramatic funding cuts particularly in the women-serving sector in British Columbia. Many valuable services and agencies are struggling to survive or have had to close their doors.

The hardships faced by women, children, and families are increasing by the day and many of us are deeply concerned about the future.

Recently, the Institute was informed that its funding has been reduced by half. We as a board must now deal with the challenge of absorbing the impact of this drastic cut using all of our creative energy to develop a new, smaller but still viable organization. We are working closely with Penny Bain, our dedicated Executive Director, and our staff to ensure that we examine every possibility carefully. We plan to have a proposal completed in January. We are currently conducting meetings with key people in the government and in the field to garner their ideas and hopefully their support in this endeavour.

The Institute has an excellent reputation and 15 years of stellar research, education, and resource development in the field. Our task now is to preserve our mandate in a way that makes sense in today’s changing world and with today’s shrinking resource base. We have a number of great ideas and I am optimistic that we will survive these changes, but not without a great deal of flexibility, hard work, and energy. If you have any thoughts on this matter, we would welcome them.
In the meantime, I wish to convey my appreciation to Penny, Jenny, Marion, and Patty who are weathering this storm with courage and dignity. I also wish to thank our board for rolling up its sleeves so that we can develop the best plan possible to meet our mandate in the future.

Frances Grunberg, MSW RSW
Chair