Many families living in Manitoba are in crisis. In 2014, there were close to 10,000 children in care, 90% of which were Indigenous. Of all children who spend time in care in the province, only 33% graduate from high school.
The United Way's For Every Family program is doing what it can to combat these issues, among many others, and one of their critical methods to this is through their Family Resource Centres. These centres provide a place of safety and support, where necessities like phone access, laundry, and healthy food are available. The For Every Family program focuses on creating a formal cohesive network of Family Resource Centres, increasing accessibility for families at the centres, as well as programming.
In 2017, United Way Winnipeg successfully applied for a Jewish Foundation of Manitoba community grant of $125,000 (a five-year commitment of $25,000 each year running through 2022) to support this project. In addition to the grant, the program is also receiving support from the Province of Manitoba, which is matching all contributed funding. JFM's grant support helped the United Way's For Every Family program to reach its goal of $7.5 million successfully. With the matching funds from the province, they have now raised $15 million.
On average, 35,000 people visit these centres during the year. In 2017, these facilities were only open for an average of 28 hours per week. Now, over 65% of the $15 million raised has been dedicated to increasing operating hours. They now have the means to keep the Family Resource Centres' doors open double the amount of time they were before, resulting in more families getting the help they need when they need it.
In Winnipeg, 10% of our population lives in poverty. One out of every four children lives in poverty. Projects like For Every Family look to change that number, giving more families and children opportunities to find success.