On Monday, workers from Community-Based Organizations gathered at the legislature to advise Minister of Social Services Gene Makowsky not to fumble the ball on providing multi-year funding for Saskatchewan CBOs.

In a release from The Canadian Union of Public Employees, President Judy Henley says Saskatchewan CBOs provide vital services to some of Saskatchewan’s most vulnerable citizens. These include caring for people living with disabilities, responding to domestic violence calls, engaging in suicide intervention, and providing emergency child care.

Henley says after decades of underfunding, it’s time for our government to step up, and provide stable, multi-year funding for the CBO sector.

According to the release, CBO’s have have been unable to provide wages that keep up with inflation for frontline workers, and struggle with recruitment and retention of staff. It says CBO workers also spend a considerable amount of time on fundraising and filling out grant applications just to meet their budget needs.