Struggling after funding cut, CDN-NDG outreach group gets $50K from Quebec

The Quebec government is reinvesting $50,000 in a Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce sexual exploitation prevention program after its funding was cut by roughly the same amount in 2015.

The funding is part of a larger package of $5.8 million that will be put towards similar initiatives around the province through to 2021, according to Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux.

Prévention CDN-NDG, operating since 1989, provides outreach and educational services for youth in schools as well as on-the-street intervention.

Executive director Terri Ste-Marie said the organization lost approximately $50,000 in provincial funding two years ago and have been struggling to maintain its programs.

"We lost everyone and now we're back up," Ste-Marie said.

She credited her small staff with continuing to do hands-on work with youth in the community despite the cuts.

"There are a lot of late evenings and early mornings at our offices," she said.

The new money will be focused primarily on street work rather than school workshops.