'A very hard year': St. John's program that funds youth activities in financial jeopardy

A program that offers St. John's children and youth the chance to join extracurricular activities, even if they can't afford it, is having its own financial problems

Recreation Experiences and Leisure (R.E.A.L.) is a not-for-profit program that supports children of low income families by helping to pay the expenses associated involved in sports, arts and leadership programs.

For the last 15 years, the program has been steadily providing an average of 2,300 placements per year.But this year, that number is expected to only be about 1,700 placements by the end of 2017.

According toNatalie Godden, the manager of Family And Leisure Services with the City of St. John's, the decline is due to a drop in donations from business partners, much like is being seenwithmost non-profits acrossthe province.

"Funding with the economic downturn just isn't available as readily as it has been in the past," she told the St. John's Morning Show.

It's very, very tough. You build relationships with the family.-Natalie Godden

Helping youthwith registration fees, transportation costs and equipment for different activities are just some of the things that R.E.A.L.'s funds go towards. Goddensaid in some cases, like when the organizationhelps pay for lifeguard certification, the opportunity may turn into a job for the participants.

R.E.A.L. gets its funding mostly from business partners, in addition to private donations. The City of St. John's provides funding for two full-time staff, part of Godden's salary and administration costs.

The city also providesthe group's office space onCrosbie Place, which means all donated money actually goes towards serving the kids in the program.

Disappointing year

Godden said this has been a hard year for the program, and that the most difficultpart is having to make calls to families to let them know their child won't receive support.

"It's very, very tough. You build relationships with the family," she said.

"We had just recently one of our participants graduate from the program the program's been in existence for 15 years. So he started out as a small child and graduated from the program."

Goddensaid after 15 years of steady funding, this year came as a bit of a shock. She knows that other groups are having troubles with financing, but it's still difficult to know there are children out there who simply can't do the things they want because the money isn't available.

"It's very hard, it's a very hard year," Godden said.