Pat Porter members hear of tremendous growth, improved finances at the centre

A positive financial report was shared at the Annual General Meeting for the Pat Porter Active Living Centre in Steinbach. 

Audrey Harder, executive director, says the number of rentals has increased significantly, which has really helped their bottom line. 

“The center itself, the building, the Pat Porter Active Living Center, where all the activity and all this stuff happens, used to be in a huge deficit and we are now seeing that it's come out of that deficit and it's in the positive,” she reports.

Audrey Harder, executive director at the Pat Porter Active Living Centre.

Harder says the increase in rentals and membership has helped to improve the financial picture. 

“When you go from having 300 members to having 525, that makes the difference in our income line. When you have people who rent here regularly or come for different things, that makes a difference as well.” 

Her report to the membership included some changes they have seen at the centre. 

She says they are a lot busier with having expanded weekly programs from 10 to now holding 40 programs each week. There has also been an increase within the programs. 

“The Meals on Wheels programs, going from 12 meals every day to 50. Circle of Friends, our adult day program, being full and having a waiting list. Having the accessible transit here, that's been a huge bonus for us, and for the community I think as well, because now we are able to provide rides seven days a week and some evenings.”

The 2023 annual report for the Pat Porter Active Living Centre includes improved financial report. (Photo submitted)

Staff numbers have also increased, going from eight staff to now having 22 paid employees. 

Harder credits a lot of the success to strategic planning. 

“We worked with Homefield People and Strategy, and it was amazing how that gave us a good focus and an understanding of what we needed to do,” she says. “So, the staff team and the board, we just jumped on that, and we loved it. Sometimes you need somebody from the outside going, ‘Okay, so what's your next step?’ We left the strategic planning with a huge a whole bunch of goals and we've achieved many of them.” 

Harder expects they will soon be able to announce some of the grants they are getting which will help pay for some of the improvements to the centre. 

At the AGM, Harder spoke about the $3.5 million expansion which will add 12,000 sq ft to the building. 

“We're going to have to do some fundraising and some work on that. It was just amazing to give all of that information to people who don't hear it and don't see that back part. We just know what we do and sometimes I think people don't realize how much we put into that, every single program that we have and every single thing that we do. It was fantastic.” 

Harder also took time at the meeting to acknowledge all of her staff.” 

“One at a time, I named them, and they all clapped. It was great to see them get that acknowledgment because they work hard, and they work hard because they love being here, and they love what they do. They love our community and those are the things that our organization is huge on. So, seeing them get some recognition for that was fantastic.” 

Just prior to the start of the meeting, the Pat Porter Centre held an appreciation barbecue for the many volunteers who take on various roles that support all the programming. 

“The amount of hours put in to volunteer here, I've said this many times, but it's the equivalent of six full time staff. So, that's a lot of hours in one year and every hour counts, and every hour means so much to us that we want to make sure people feel that and know that.” 

There are nearly 100 active volunteers at the Pat Porter Active Living Centre. 

Harder notes they are still waiting for applications for their nursing scholarship. 

“Nobody has applied for it for a few years, so if there's anybody out there who's looking to go into nursing and is in their second year, give us a call and see if you can apply. Hopefully we can give $1,000 to somebody. I would love to do that.”