Mission’s pursuit of a foundry centre has hit a roadblock.
Last Monday (March 4), the province announced 10 new foundry sites and Mission’s application was unsuccessful.
“I’m disappointed — that’s for sure,” Coun. Angel Elias said. “We worked really hard at putting our application through but I also understand that [the province] received an overwhelming amount of applications and it wasn’t anything in regards to our application that was missing. They just had some tough decisions to make.”
Foundry centres are hubs to make it easier for young people (ages 12-24) to access services including mental health and substance use support, primary care, peer support and social services.
Chilliwack, Burnaby, Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Quesnel, Sooke-Westshore, South Surrey, Vancouver, Vanderhoof and the West Kootenays were announced as new locations. There are currently 25 centres either open or in development, including Abbotsford and Maple Ridge locations.
“There’s nothing more important than helping kids and their families. That’s why we’re making a significant expansion in child and youth health and wellness supports so more young people can get connected to the services they need,” Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jennifer Whiteside said in a news release.
Coun. Jag Gill says there is a massive demand for a foundry in Mission with many young people in the community struggling.
“For me personally, we’re still pressured for more growth from the province, but we aren’t being adequately funded for the challenges the growth brings,” Gill said.
According to statistics provided by Foundry Abbotsford last year, Mission youth comprise 15 per cent of people who use their location. Gill says travel is a barrier for many Mission youth who need foundry services.
Mission Community Services Society (MCSS) was the applicant for the foundry, but it was a collaborative effort with other local agencies and the city. At a June 2023 Mission council meeting, $15,000 was allocated to retain a consultant to prepare an application.
MCSS executive director Nate McCready says there hasn’t been a debrief yet to find out why the application wasn’t successful.
“There’s definitely a need [for a foundry]. Being in between a foundry in Abbotsford and Maple Ridge — I thought that might make it a tough [application]. I think that that was a big obstacle,” McCready said.
Council also dedicated $1 million towards a foundry through the Growing Communities Fund last year. Despite the unsuccessful application, council also previously resolved to look into a contingency plan.
“It’s disheartening for sure but I’m a firm believer that work doesn’t stop if one door closes,” Gill said.
City of Mission Chief Administrative Officer Mike Younie says there’s interest in a made-in-Mission approach to a foundry.
“All the way along this, we’ve talked about a plan B because there’s a strong desire to be helping the youth in Mission,” Younie said.
Elias says council is committed to ensuring that Mission youth have a foundry-like service in the community going forward.
“I’ll be very motivated to make sure that we’re creating some sort of amazing model so that when another call to action goes out for a foundry, maybe we’ll be able to reapply then and they’ll see that the need is just as great as we reported the first time,” she said.
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