Joe Masi, city councillor and chair of finance for the City of Portage la Prairie, is enthusiastic about new opportunities to support local organizations making a positive impact in the community.
"One of the things in our 2025 budget is that City Council approved almost $2.6 million in what we call our Community Grants program," says Masi. "These are dollars that we provide in an application process to various nonprofit groups. We also fund some of our partnership organizations like the Portage Regional Library, the Portage Handi-Van, and a few city committees. In total, there were 29 applications approved, for a total of $2.6 million."
Commitment to grassroots impact
Masi emphasizes the City's strong commitment to the grants program, noting the valuable role local groups play.
“The amount of work these organizations do is amazing,” he says. “Many of them are filling gaps where no one else is stepping in. It makes a significant difference in our city.”
Grants aligned with strategic priorities
He explains that many of the grant recipients reflect the goals outlined in the city’s Strategic Plan.
"A good example of this revolves around community safety; a very important part and a priority for our City," Masi says. "We provided some funding to the Portage Bear Clan, for instance. We provided some money for Manitoba Crime Stoppers—all in helping continue to push to make our community safer."
Enhancing quality of life for seniors
Masi points to the Herman Prior Activity Centre as another grant recipient, highlighting its role in supporting seniors.
"We want seniors to have a good quality of life in our community. So that's why we funded the Herman Prior Activity Centre,” he says.
Investing in lifelong learning
The Portage Regional Library also received funding, with Masi noting its shared service between the city and the rural municipality.
"Our library is a very vibrant library. We want to inform citizenry and make sure people have access to our library with books, videos, and things that can improve and make them better informed citizens."
Fostering inclusivity and welcoming newcomers
Masi also highlights support for the Portage Community Revitalization Corporation (PCRC), which plays a key role in welcoming new residents.
"We provided some funding for them to make sure that our city is a very inclusive city, that people who come here from other countries feel at home here. That's a big part of what they do."
A continuing priority for council
“These are important grants that we provide,” Masi adds. “We feel as a council it's really important that this be part of our budget every year. It's an application process. Our staff review them, go through them, and then council determines the final list of who gets what funding. But there are so many great organizations that do such good work. They touch so many parts of our community.”