The Quyon Family Centre’s board of directors hosted its annual general meeting for the 2024-2025 financial year on Feb. 19, offering a clearer picture of the state of its finances in Mar. 2025 after losing its biggest funding source that winter.
The non-profit organization, founded in 1995, is a key social service provider in Quyon and the greater Municipality of Pontiac. Over the years, it has offered playgroups, tax clinics, seniors’ gatherings, babysitter courses, and much more.
In Mar. 2025, the Family Centre faced a major setback after learning it was not approved for its largest grant from Quebec’s Family Ministry, worth almost $200,000 for a two-year period.
Ashley Carson, president of the Family Centre’s board of directors, said the funding was not awarded because key administrative tasks and building maintenance had not been kept up.
“There was stuff that needed to be done that wasn’t done on time. We had to have our roof repaired. So that took a while to have done, to raise the funds and have someone come and do it,” she said. “The roof had to be done for the insurance to be good, and that [insurance] was a requirement for the ministry.”
As a result of the loss of funding, the board of directors dismissed the director general and its other staff members who ran programs.
Since then, the non-profit has kept its doors open thanks to staff who have stayed on as volunteers, and significant fundraising and community donations that have enabled it to pay its basic operating expenses.
The financial report presented Feb. 19 showed a net loss of $209,759 between 2024 and 2025, leaving the non-profit organization with a $185,312 deficit as of Mar. 2025.
The majority of this deficit is attributable to losses in funding from the province, in the amount of $190,662, and from Centraide (United Way) in the amount of $22,342. Centraide pulled its annual funding after learning the provincial funding was not renewed.
Board member Hollie Leach confirmed that all debt owed by the Family Centre has since been cleared thanks to fundraisers, generous community donations, and sales from the clothing counter, and that the Family Centre is back in the black.
On Feb. 19, two new members were elected to the board of directors. Julie Gagne and Kelly Graveline joined Carson, Leach, Carolyn Kenney and Shannon Purcell.
It will be another year before the Family Centre can reapply for the provincial funding, which Carson said the Family Centre should now be in good standing to receive.
But until then, the board is still without a director general, trying to piece together other grants available to continue supporting some of the centre’s key programming.
“We’ve started back up with some of the programs at the family centre, so playgroups started back up [in February],” Carson said.
“We’ve got one paid employee right now, and our goal is to find some other grants that are out there that can help bring in some more employees and programs too. The [seniors] meet and greet had been put on hold, and that’s one of the ones we’re looking at getting back up and going too.”
Carson said she feels good about where the centre is currently sitting, given the challenges it’s faced.
“I feel very confident. I feel like we made it through last year, because everybody worked very hard, so I’m confident that we’ll make it through this next year.”
