The Northern Birthwork Collective is adjusting some programming at the start of its fiscal year after failing to secure all of the funding it hoped to receive.
The Yellowknife-based organization closed its fiscal year on March 31, a period that also marked the end of several multi-year funding agreements.
Like many nonprofits, NBC is required to spend allocated funds within specific timelines.
Since launching services in December 2021 with one client, finance director Sabrina Flack said, NBC has grown steadily. The service had 14 clients in 2022, 46 in 2023, 66 in 2024 and 85 in 2025.
Flack said program needs had often extended beyond the end of formal funding agreements, requiring the organization to bridge gaps between fiscal years.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
This year, the organization entered April without the same level of confirmed funding it had in previous years.
“There’s about $400,000 worth of funding that we didn’t get approved, but then close to $200,000 of funding that we did get approved,” she told Cabin Radio.
“Some of the bigger grants we applied for, we didn’t receive – and the little ones we applied for, we did receive.”
NBC is continuing to apply for funding and awaiting more responses.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Flack said the result, for now, is a partial funding mix that covers some programming but leaves gaps in overall operating capacity, particularly for broader service expansion and staffing flexibility.
She said NBC employs five staff members, including two salaried Indigenous birthworkers, and also works with contracted birthworkers as needed.
Staff stability is central to service continuity given birthwork services often require consistent relationships between clients and care providers, said Flack.
The organization’s Moon Lodge program, which provides reproductive health education from prenatal to postpartum stages, will operate at a reduced level this year.
Last week, NBC announced it is also temporarily revising its free-access eligibility due to funding constraints. In a Facebook post, the group said “Black, Indigenous, and Global Majority communities” would be the priority for the time being.
Other people – including 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and low-income families – can still access services through lower tiers of a sliding-scale fee structure.
The organization said prenatal loss and abortion support, as well as prenatal classes, will not be affected by the change.
“This is an ongoing change until we are able to secure additional funding, which we are actively working on,” NBC wrote. “This work is rooted in community, and we don’t take lightly any change that affects access.”
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
‘A lot of funding doesn’t do capacity’
The funding loss comes at a time when Flack said there is ongoing interest from communities outside Yellowknife in an expansion that would allow them to access educational programming and birthwork services.
She said plans to host a birthworker training program later this year, in partnership with an Indigenous training organization, are also dependent on securing funding.
“The funding that we do have, a lot of it is not unrestricted. It’s restricted funding that is attached to a specific contribution agreement that is for a very specific project, so we have to use those funds for that specific project,” she explained.
“We can’t pivot those funds and use them for birthwork services if they weren’t received for birthwork services. We still have to continue to – in whatever capacity we can – follow through with those program projects and programming.”
NBC director Liz Liske said an example is the organization’s abortion support program, which has dedicated funding that cannot be redirected to other services.
“I remember me coming to the realization that a lot of funding likes to go towards the programming itself, and that capacity always seems to be last on the list,” she said.
“I just found that really interesting and kind-of funny, because you need people to run these programs and there’s a lot of funding that doesn’t do capacity.
“If we want to continue putting on this program or even putting on more programming, we do need the bodies and the people to run them.”
Flack said the organization is planning a fundraising campaign next month.
People can follow the Northern Birthwork Collective on social media to stay updated or sign up to a newsletter on the NBC website.
