Each year, the Quebec government gives an evocative title to its provincial budget. This year, we propose: “Quebec in action for a fairer society”.
In the spring of 2018, the Association of Community Organizations in Region 03 (ROC 03) and its members produced the statement “The exhaustion and precariousness of community workers: an unsustainable situation”. However, the challenges related to human resources, the proliferation of files and the changing priorities due to the economic situation have meant that this very important cry from the heart has been drowned out by the clamor of other issues. Here we are in 2023, and the situation has deteriorated, with an increased labor shortage, substantial inflation and two years of pandemic.
Over the past year, the ROC 03 has witnessed an unequaled level of distress and discouragement in many autonomous community organizations in the Capitale-Nationale region. Difficulties in hiring and retaining staff, the complexity of requests for assistance and the unbridled rise in the cost of living create a context conducive to people who commit to it giving up or abdicating.
Why does the government fund autonomous community organizations? Because he recognized their essential contribution to the community and considered that they were an essential link in Quebec’s social safety net!
Despite this recognition, many independent community organizations still receive starving funding, which does not allow them to be valued employers. When they describe the difficulties related to their role as employers, the government proposes in an action plan to train them in human resources management, when the main problem lies precisely in a lack of resources. Would he hold the same speech to private companies that he nevertheless finances in a substantial way?
A significant reinvestment in the mission of independent community organizations would be a first step so that they can better play this role of employer and thus, ultimately, prevent working in the community from continuing to rhyme with misery, for those who choose to do.
The complexity and diversity of requests for help have also intensified, which has often led to an overload for organizations, stakeholders and volunteers. How do you meet all these demands when you’re understaffed? How do you maintain your commitment when the feeling of helplessness becomes suffocating? How to function on a daily basis when the waiting lists are getting longer? How do you find the balance between your personal life and the immediate response to the urgent needs of vulnerable people who knock on the doors of organizations?
Many live in distress when they have to support the people who live with it. Others put out fires when they have a prevention mission. Either way, fate seems to be gaining ground.
Note that community organizations have been told for decades that they must do more with less. This is surely why many grants are not indexed annually. They are actually doing more with less year after year. Knowing that a significant rise in the consumer price index is equivalent to a reduction in working conditions if wages are not increased, what losses are those who work in the community assuming? Maintaining and improving working conditions are essential to the stability of work teams and the retention of expertise.
Community workers have not taken a vow of poverty, they are capable of self-sacrifice and have a great sense of duty. Bringing them to the breaking point serves no cause.
For a fairer society, the government must choose to fund autonomous community organizations decently!