Curiko offers online and in-person workshops for roughly 400 individuals struggling with social isolation and is at risk of shutting down by the fall
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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.
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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.
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“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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Community Living’s core function is providing community-inclusion supports that are “tied to one individual at a time,” she said.
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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.”
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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 and in-person programming for people with disabilities who may not be able to make it out in person.
