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Somali Youth Center May Be Forced To Close
OTTAWA JAN 20, 2004 (CBC Ottawa) – A resource centre for Somali youth
in Ottawa will shut its doors unless it gets a huge increase in
funding from the city. This comes just weeks before a mayor's task
force is expected to report on youth crime, focusing especially on
Somali youth.
Last year, the city gave the Somali Center for Youth, Women and
Community Development $56,000—money that helped young Somalis find
jobs, sign up for courses and other programs, and stay out of trouble.
But the center’s director, and only paid employee, says that's no
longer enough. Raage Mohamed says that, without another $100,000
annually, the center will close.
"What we are saying is that we know what we are doing, we know our
role, we want to ... work with others, but it's just falling into deaf
ears as far as those that have the cheques are concerned."
That's unlikely to change. The city is facing its own financial
crisis, and every program is up for review, no matter how successful.
Bay Ward Coun. Alex Cullen says the Somali Centre is being
unreasonable.
"There's another 242 social agencies who are facing cuts. This agency
hasn't been cut. One doesn't deal with a problem like that by
closing," Cullen says.
Still, the threat comes at an awkward time for Ottawa Mayor Bob
Chiarelli. Last summer, Chiarelli formed a task force with police and
Somali community leaders after Coun. Jan Harder blamed a spate of
attacks in her ward on "non-whites."
That task force is supposed to report back in a few weeks. It may have
to do so without the participation of the one agency that dealt
specifically with the problem.
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