The Burnaby Mental Wealth Society is staying put for now, according to an employee.
However, the society will no longer run a clubhouse at 6112 Sussex Ave., according to Brett Enemark, a part-time employee for the society. Instead, it will be a centre for survivors of mental illness in the Lower Mainland, he said.
"The society knows it has a feeling and identity shared by so many. It will survive and will do so through a change in direction," he wrote in an email to the NOW on Aug. 3. "The Burnaby Mental Wealth Centre already has many seniors as members and, through an alliance with Burnaby Seniors' Outreach Services, will focus more on work with seniors in overcoming the problems they face with age."
The centre was able to pull through, with the help of volunteers and new funding, and will continue its stable food program as long as possible, Enemark added.
But more funding is needed to sustain the centre, he said, and invited members of the community to come to the centre and see what the society does.
The society is holding a thank you barbecue on Friday, Aug. 12 at 1 p.m. at the West Burnaby United Church, at 6050 Sussex Ave., across from the centre.
The society was at risk of shutting down after losing its funding from Fraser Health. The funding stops as of Aug. 31.
The society has operated in Burnaby for about 18 years and has been based at the clubhouse for more than 13 years.
The society was told by Fraser Health to prepare a detailed application form for funding this year with 17 working days' notice in April, according to Jim Tessley, past-president of the society and an active member.
Tessley spoke to the NOW about the issue in June, along with another member, Carmina Tinaburri, who has since been voted in as president of the society's board. It was the first time since the society was established and initially approved for funding that it had to submit a proposal, Tessley said. The society was late turning it in by a matter of 15 minutes, he said, adding it was because of the complexity of the paperwork.
The society was told the application was rejected because it was late. Funding was awarded to the Canadian Mental Health Association instead.
Roy Thorpe, spokesperson for Fraser Health, said that while the application was only late by a brief period of time, the request for proposals required a specific deadline. The health authority put out the request for proposals in April after reviewing mental health services in Burnaby and assessing where there were duplicate services, or services missing, as in North Burnaby, he said.
The entire amount of funding, plus other program funding, will be going to a new Canadian Mental Health Association clubhouse that will open in September, he said. The $400,000 annual contract will fund a full-time rehabilitation and recovery-focused clubhouse program, according to a press release from Fraser Health.
