Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Chad Klassen

NON-PROFIT SERIES

STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL: The Mustard Seed New Life Community

Jul 17, 2019 | 9:43 AM

KAMLOOPS — This is the first part of a new series on CFJC Today and CFJC TV called Struggle for Survival, featuring various non-profits in Kamloops that are working to make people’s lives better. The series dives into some of the financial challenges each have in providing services. In part one of the series, we feature The Mustard Seed New Life Community.

Last September, The Mustard Seed, based in Calgary, team up with New Life Community. New Life was in a difficult financial position and needing some backing. The conglomeration has helped the organization deliver its essential services.

Lunch at The Mustard Seed New Life is a busy time when people come off the streets and into the West Victoria Street location for a bite to eat.

It’s a cornerstone of what New Life offers people in need. Many of the meals rely on donations from the community, as do other services offered by New Life.

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“More than half of our income of the year would come from donations, large and small,” says executive director Diane Down.

However, it wasn’t long ago that New Life was in dire straits, struggling to make ends meet. It prompted the non-profit to reach out to Calgary-based The Mustard Seed, which has a similar mission.

“New Life was in a difficult financial position,” notes Down. “They were also in a bit of a leadership crisis when Stan [Dueck] had told the board that he was going to retire from New Life. They were having difficulty finding someone to take the helm.”

Down stepped in and has been navigating the new partnership. She says The Mustard Seed and its $28 million annual budget has allowed the non-profit not only to survive but expand.

Image Credit: CFJC Today

NEW PARTNERSHIP

The biggest help has been on the administrative and communication side, services that Down says can be expensive.

“What most non-profits really struggle with is ongoing operations, just keeping the lights on, paying salaries and wages, offering appropriate wages to employees. So when you have someone like The Mustard Seed come along, they can offer that depth and stability.”

It allows New Life to focus on its programs like feeding the homeless and helping men in recovery upstairs. The recovery centre, which rooms 12 men at a time struggling with addiction, is one of the programs funded by the government.

Adam Dunford has been in recovery at New Life for a couple months now due to alcoholism, which led to other issues.

“As time went on and it progressed, I started graduating to other types of mind-altering substances,” says Dunford. “I went from alcohol to cocaine, then I went to pills, which led me to heroin and fentanyl use.”

Dunford says the recovery centre and the support he’s received has been truly life-changing for him.

“I would recommend this place to anybody. It really changed my life. I’ve been to two treatment centres and they did nothing for me. When I came here, something changed. There was a shift, and I learned a whole new way of living,” he notes.

Dunford’s story of hope is what New Life strives for, helping people turn their lives around. With the recent merger with The Mustard Seed, the non-profit can now focus on the future without as worrying as much about where their funding is coming from.