Loss of youth centre the latest blow to Hillsborough
After losing its bank and grocery store, the village of Hillsborough is about to suffer another loss.
The Hillsborough Drop In centre, which offers free services for kids aged 10 to 17, will close at the end of February because of a lack of funding.
The centre offers youth in the area a safe place to hang out and relax on week days after school from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Lynda Carey, the executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Riverview, which runs the program, said she's concerned about what the loss will mean for the community of 1,200 people and what the kids will do for fun once the program closes.
"Before we came, the village did indicate that there was a significant number of RCMP calls for mid-afternoon, late afternoon vandalism and mischief," Carey said, adding that those calls weren't happening a year later.
"I'm afraid that if we're not there, this sort of might reappear."
The two-storey centre in Hillsborough, about 24 kilometres south of Riverview, began offering a variety of programs six years ago. They include physical recreation, planned trips, foosball, video games, cooking, arts and crafts, homework space and computer access for children and teens.
Children and teens from Hillsborough, Hopewell Cape and Riverside-Albert use the program. About 75 kids are enrolled in the program this year, as of the beginning of January.
"For some events, we've had up to 50 kids in that building because it's something that they're really looking forward to doing," Carey said.
On quieter days, six or seven kids still go to the building to work on homework.
Funding cut
The Riverview Boys and Girls Club gets 90 per cent of its funding from local grants, but about $30,000 was cut in December. Carey said $30,000 is half what's needed to run the Hillsborough centre.
"When you lose that kind of money … it's hard to think how are you going to find that in such a short period of time, but we're hopeful."
The Riverview Boys and Girls Club has an operating budget of $865,000. That money is divided among 12 programs run by the club, including the Hillsborough centre.
Carey said it seems like there are more non-profit organizations in the greater Moncton area and only so much money to go around, so she understands why a donor may have wanted to support another non-profit this year.
A town hall meeting will take place Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the centre, at 61 Academy St. in Hillsborough, to talk about its future.
