The Renaissance Active Living Centre mounted a heartfelt and impassioned appeal to Elliot Lake City Council late last week and it didn't minimize how dire its circumstances are.
The Ren Cen, as many know it, rented out any available space it could find in its building and stepped up its fundraising efforts in 2023 along with other severe cost-cutting measures like limiting kitchen hours to extend the life of appliances.
But still, it found itself appealing to council for support at an in-person input session on Thursday, October 24, at 6 p.m. at city hall.
“I need to stress that without your help, our centre wouldn't be. The money that you give to us at the centre is what's been helping to keep us going, and we just can't exist without it,” said Valerie Mercer-Spencer, president of the Renaissance Active Living Centre.
“This would not only impact our 335 clients, but it will also impact the newcomers who have the intent on joining our centre.”
Renaissance Active Living Centre appeal
The Ren Cen, as it is often referred to locally, “is a non-profit organization, charitable organization, incorporated in 1990. We have been providing social, recreational, and physical activities in our present location for 34 years,” Mercer-Spencer said during her presentation.
Mercer-Spencer’s presentation highlighted the services offered including multiple exercise and recreational programs and events. The presentation is here.
“Municipal funding allows us to maintain, upgrade our aging building, and leverage other funding to help us purchase other special equipment for the seniors in order to keep them physically healthy and engaged in the community,” she said.
‘A win-win situation for our economy’
Commenting on the broader benefits for Elliot Lake, Mercer-Spencer described the Active Living Centre as “a win-win situation for our economy when these newcomers rent or purchase a home and build their new lives here.”
“The loss of the Renaissance Center would certainly have a detrimental effect on those seniors wishing to relocate here.”
“Today, I'm here to request an increase in our yearly monetary donation that you provide to the centre of $45,000.”
Cost-saving measures taken
Mercer-Spencer described the cost savings measures the centre has undertaken recently including, “[we] rented every available space in our building for offices in order to increase our cash flow.”
“In 2023, we mortgaged our building and increased our fundraising efforts.”
“This year, we made hard decisions and undertook many cost-cutting measures. Once again, we reduced staff hours of work to half-time for three months and made changes to our kitchen program in order to reduce the use of our aging kitchen equipment,” Mercer-Spencer explained.
“We also increased the membership fees and our user fees for all activities and events. Unfortunately, we still have not been able to bring in enough money to manage the ever-rising cost of operating our centre."
Budget input session a new idea for council
The budget input session is a new initiative.
The City informed the public of the new initiative by news release on Friday, October 18 and by announcement at the October 14 council meeting. The release informed, “Deadline for submissions is Tuesday, Oct. 22.”
“Speakers will be able to present their requests and recommendations. To accommodate everyone, time will be limited to five minutes per presenter and the facilitator will not be answering any questions,” the release said.
On Thursday evening, City staff and members of council heard seven presentations requesting funds or facilities in support of local community services
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