If it wasn’t for the help of a Foothills charitable organization, a single dad in Longview might not have been able to put food on the table for his three children the past few weeks.
When schools and daycares closed in mid-March as cases of COVID-19 began to climb in Alberta, Dany Lapierre had to remain home with his three children - unable to earn an income.
The Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills, an organization dedicated to the personal growth and development of children and youth, stepped in to help the Lapierre family. His six-year-old daughter had attended the club’s before and after school program in Black Diamond before its doors closed last month.
“I had no way of getting any money so they gave me money for groceries so that me and my three kids could actually have some food in the house,” he said. “I was self-employed for quite some years so I had no access to EI. It’s pretty unreal what’s happening – they’re talking about 12 to 18 months of this.”
Lapierre has since arrange a sitter for his children, ages two to six, so he can now earn an income, but it hasn’t been easy.
“Running a business is expensive so it’s been really, really tight,” he said. “It’s still difficult, but at least I have a revenue coming in.”
Unable to afford Internet, which runs $130 a month and higher in the village, makes it impossible for Lapierre to do online schooling with his six-year-old daughter, yet staff at C. Ian McLaren School ensure his daughter gets her schoolwork so she can keep up with her studies.
Lapierre admits that accepting help from others, including the school which donated food from the cafeteria to his family, wasn’t easy at first.
“I’d always been working and paying my own bills and doing everything on my own so I was almost anxious to take anything,” he said.
Yet Lapierre said he couldn’t have done it without help from the Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills and his community.
Staff with the club have been reaching out to its families to help since the organization shut down its child and youth programs in Black Diamond, Turner Valley, Eden Valley, High River, Nanton and the Crowsnest Pass last month, said chief executive officer Shirley Puttock. The charitable organization operates daycares and before-and-after school programs for children and numerous activities for teens from cooking to sports.
Puttock said the club received funding from various sources to help families during the COVID-19 pandemic including the Breakfast Club of Canada, Coca-Cola, President's Choice, United Way, TC Energy, Shaw, Telus and the Family Resource Network.
“The funders have been incredibly generous,” she said. “We don’t even have to go through the normal processes to get the funding. It’s immediate.”
For the past four weeks, Puttock said the club’s remaining three staff members have helped more than 70 families in its communities. On April 8, staff distributed a survey to its 840 member families asking what they need.
“We asked if they need mental health resources, help with technology as the kids have to do all of their schooling online and even resources to get their income tax returns done,” she said. “It’s such a tough time for everybody right now.”
Puttock said they received several responses already, some expressing a need for food, others for Internet and others for electronics like iPads and laptops so their children can do their school work online.
“Parents right now are struggling with the fact that they’re full-time teachers right now with several children,” she said. “This is going to go on for a while so they might find that their kids needs shoes or a coat. Whatever people need we’re willing to help out with.”
Puttock said even though the provincial and federal governments are doing their best to get money to people, there’s a time lapse between when they’re receiving their last paycheque and provincial assistance.
“It’s been pretty crazy, but Albertans are strong and resilient,” she said. “We’re going to do our best as an organization to help our communities get through this.”
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