|
|
|||||
|
|||||
| Path: Main Street : NewsWeek : Archive : Funder Focus : Article |
This is an archive of CharityVillage NewsWeek. To find a word on the page,
use your browser's "find" feature (CTRL-F or CMD-F). Please note: While we ensure that all links and e-mail addresses are accurate
at their publishing date, the quick-changing nature of the web means that some
links to other web sites and e-mail addresses may no longer be accurate.
To view other articles in the archive, use our Chronological Index.
Funder Focus: Joan Steckhan and the Kinsmen Foundation
By Elisa Birnbaum
September 5, 2006
This month in our Funder Focus we feature the Kinsmen Foundation. Established in 1971, it has been helping people with physical, mental and social disabilities in the province of Saskatchewan ever since. CharityVillage spoke with executive director Joan Steckhan about the foundation's evolution over the years, its annual mainstay event, and how it continues to play a significant role in the lives of Saskatchewanites.
CharityVillage: How would you describe the Kinsmen Foundation. What type of foundation is it and how it is it governed?
Joan Steckhan: The Kinsmen Foundation as an entity is a public foundation. Started in 1971, we are a volunteer-led organization that provides funding to people in Saskatchewan to access special needs equipment and medical assistance. We are governed by the Kinsmen and Kinettes of Saskatchewan.
CV: Explain the main source of funding for the foundation.
JS: A telethon called Telemiracle is the Kinsmen Foundation's sole annual fundraiser. There are also numerous groups, Kinsmen and Kinette clubs through the province, community groups, businesses, and individuals who will actually carry out fundraising activities and gather dollars to present at the show. It's a hand-in-hand situation.
CV: What inspired this telethon - the foundation's raison d'être - and how long has it been running?
JS: We just celebrated Telemiracle 30th last March; it was started in 1977. It was perceived to be a good fundraising opportunity, but I don't think anyone at the time thought that we'd be celebrating a 30th anniversary. Telemiracle has really become a part of the hearts and minds of the people of Saskatchewan. And anyone who has been living in Saskatchewan over the last 30 years will absolutely know what Telemiracle is.
CV: Describe the environment in the 1970s and how that inspired the foundation's beginnings?
JS: Originally there was a great movement in Saskatchewan in the 1970s and early 80s involved with moving a lot of people with disabilities into group homes and into other living situations. There was also more encouragement for people to raise children with disabilities at home. As part of that environment, the need for the foundation came about. And certainly, Telemiracle's absolute roots are very much directed at people with disabilities - helping people adapt and transition to a different life, from an institutional setting to more of a home setting.
CV: Do you have any specific funding criteria?
JS: The Kinsmen Foundation grants funds, by application, based on specific needs. But it's reasonably general criteria because that gives us quite a bit of flexibility in what it is that we fund. For example, in the instance of equipment for people with disabilities, there's new equipment available now for individuals who are nonverbal in order to help them speak. And, in funding people with disabilities, that's a fairly important one. But if we were to try and capture it in a name, we could miss some new technology that might be even better than the stuff we just found. So the criteria remain general.
CV: Can you give some examples of what your funding helps support?
JS: People with disabilities and those in need of access to medical assistance are our priorities. Certainly, the disabilities cover a wide range of things, from a mobility issue that a senior citizen may have, to a child with cerebral palsy. And we will fund individuals as well as group homes, to ensure proper equipment is available within a housing facility.
When I say access to medical equipment, that actually encompasses quite a bit. The main thing is access to medical assistance that is outside of an individual's home community. For example, if there's a child with a congenital heart problem, the treatment is found in Edmonton. In that situation, we would provide funding to ensure that a young family would be able to get to Edmonton and have that treatment.
CV: What is the average amount the foundation raises each year?
JS: It fluctuates to a certain extent, but as a ballpark figure, the last few years we've raised $3.5 million. That is quite amazing for a province that only has a million people.
CV: Where do you see the foundation moving in the future?
JS: At this point, and certainly over the next five years, we see a continuation of the same type of activity. We've just completed a strategic planning process that has clarified for us that the direction in which we've been heading is one where truly there is a need. We are a funder of last resort, so once you come to us you've been through the entire gamut of available funding. After all, there are government programs available and other organizations provide some funding toward a specific condition. But we are the last resort when there are no other sources of funding.
CV: How has the focus of the foundation evolved over the years?
JS: There's a great recognition in this province for the needs of people with disabilities and I think most people in the province would certainly say that Telemiracle had a lot to do with the increased visibility and acceptance of people with disabilities.
But the needs are a bit different than in the past because, as other funding organizations come and go, and as government policy changes over time, there certainly is more funding available now to build facilities than was true at one time. But there's not a lot of funding available for equipment that needs to be installed, so that's where we have a focus. We've moved away from fulfilling 'bricks and mortar' needs to something very specific that really fits into the needs of the last resort, that of equipment.
The ever-busy and committed Joan Steckhan has held the position of executive director of the Kinsmen Foundation for almost three years. Prior to her work with the foundation and overseeing the annual Telemiracle telethon, Steckhan was involved with the management and development of other organizations in the not-for-profit sector. For more information about the Kinsmen Foundation, visit: www.telemiracle.com.
Elisa Birnbaum is a freelance print and broadcast journalist living in Toronto.
|
|||
