Saving The Stage - a plea from founder Stefanie Swinnard

The Stage Musical Theatre Academy has been a beacon of artistic education for children and youth since 2013, offering enriching programs and hosting the beloved annual theatre festival, StageFest. However, we find ourselves in a dire situation that threatens the viability of our organization and the community that has been built within it for the last 11 years.

Asking for help is hard, asking for financial help is probably the hardest yet. I hadn’t considered the strength it takes for people to put themselves in such a vulnerable position while also experiencing an already difficult time. It’s important to me to recognize people that have used GoFundMe as a place to reach out in their hour of need. As a business owner, and I suppose as a person, I want to appear as though I’ve always got it all under control. It’s hard to put down the facade and expose the reality of my situation, face criticism and opinions, when I’m already in a profoundly difficult place. But in this situation this might be the only thing that keeps us in the community.

The Short of the Long of It…

If you've known and loved The Stage for a while or if you are someone who so believes in the arts and wants to see them preserved for future generations, and don't need all the details listed below to know you’d like to contribute, the "Coles Notes" of our campaign are:

long running successful performing arts studio of 10 years expanded into more space and added a childcare after meticulous planning

an incompetent contractor failed to manage time and finances. He was released and subsequently placed a lien for $38,000 and, after failed attempts to reach a private agreement, is seeking legal action that requires our response.

his delays have cost us the time needed to secure child care licensing and subsidy leaving us with increased rent without the funding needed to provide our childcare program.

we are facing eviction if we cannot clear the owing debt

Funds will be used to cover legal aid and rent owed due to delays

The Situation:

I made the decision to expand our studio and our program offerings as a prime opportunity came up when the unit next to ours became available in the summer of 2022. As part of the plan I included a licensed childcare facility, a project that had been in the works since 2018 but was never able to gain quite enough traction to get off the ground before Covid.

We are now trying to recover from a significant financial deficit that is the result of our first contractor.

After relieving the contractor of the work on Oct 15, 2023, and scrambling to hire a second one in order to finish the work, we had already passed our September opening. All of my budgets to run a successful business were based on that September opening.

The first contractor placed a lien on the building to try and recover more than $38,000 in payments from me. To be clear, he was paid for work in the sum of just over $39,000 only for me to have to hire someone else not only to complete the work, but to repair work that wasn’t done correctly in the first place.

Concurrently, you cannot discuss subsidy with the Ministry until you license your facility and you cannot license your facility until it is done and passed both City and Fraser Health inspections..

Our facility was not done until mid December 2023, more than 3 months after the initial deadline. From there you begin your work with the Ministry to apply for subsidy which is another long winded battle we were not anticipating.

As it stands, the Ministry responsible for assigning subsidy has denied our 23/24 subsidy plan. When I appealed they escalated it to a higher adjudication but as of this writing is hasn’t yet been completed one way or the other. Why this is problematic is because it means I cannot accurately apply for my 24/25 funding without the details of the 23/24 application.

With no movement in this area I can’t even place our prices on our website or advertise efficiently. We have a more than full waitlist of families who are interested in our program but know that the subsidy is the difference between enrolling and continuing to search for care.

I will say that the Property Management has been incredibly supportive and understanding. They have been very patient with our rent installments but as they also need to run their business they can only be patient to a point.

There is a very real possibility that we are facing eviction if we are not able to recover the costs as soon as possible.

As the founder and dreamer of this company, this situation weighs heavily on me every day. This time of year I should be working hard to prepare our annual StageFest, which in and of itself is a massive undertaking and provides an adequate amount of stress for any one person at the best of times. Even as I write this plea all I can think is that I’ve got several dozen set pieces that need to be built and painted, numerous costumes to organize and a box office to manage and students and teachers relying on my involvement and energy to guide them to the finish line. But instead I am enduring an amount of stress I never thought possible, something I work hard to hide every day, a pending lawsuit that I am being forced to undergo because of someone else’s mismanagement and inflated sense of ego, and a Ministry that assures me that “it’s being worked on” but can offer me no sense of timeline for completion.

I so believe in the work we do here. I’ve chosen to make it my life’s work. The company is 11 years old but I’ve been working with children in the arts for over 20 years and I have seen the value and positive impact it has on my students time and time again. All I’ve ever wanted to do was make a positive impact to young people and our community while highlighting the value and necessity of arts programming. I’m never never one to toot my own horn but I’ve been able to do that for 10 years without ever going into debt. When Covid hit I was able to keep all the lights on and my staff employed. I thought that would be the hardest thing I ever faced as a business owner.

But the biggest risk I took in the company’s history was to expand our facilities. I did so with more meticulous planning than I’d ever done before. I maxed out business and personal savings and took on debt in the hopes of offering even more programs and a top-quality early childhood program. It's devastating to see our efforts undermined by the actions of others.

The feeling of having built something from nothing for the last 10 years, to have it all taken away

Use of Funds:

The funds we're raising will be used to remove the lien and pay the legal fees we need to remedy this situation as well as help us with the backdated rent to avoid eviction. If possible it may also help us rectify the damage caused by the subpar work and get our expansion project back on track. I prepared seven years of projections in order to get my lease and the company was never meant to be this far behind and succeed. It wasn’t part of my very conservative budgeting in the first year. Even a healthy contingency fund has not been enough to weather a storm of this magnitude.

We have photographic and video evidence of the deficiencies, first hand accounts of the work completed by new subtrades, as well as records documenting the numerous times I demanded for updated invoices and to know where the money was being spent and what kind of timeline I could expect.

Your support will not only help us recover from this setback but also ensure that we can continue providing high-quality performing arts education to children and youth in our community.

My deepest gratitude

I don’t think there’s ever enough words or the right words to express what your help means to me and the success of this business which was, 10 years ago, just a crazy dream that I never knew would build the community it has today. I want to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who takes the time to read our story and consider supporting our cause. Your generosity means the world to us and will make a tangible difference in the lives of the young artists and families we serve.

If you're able...

Please consider donating to our GoFundMe campaign and sharing our story with your friends, family, and networks. Together, we can ensure that The Stage Musical Theatre Academy continues to thrive and provide invaluable opportunities for student growth and success

If you're not able to help but you've read this far thank you for reading my story. Sharing this post with others is incredibly valuable and healing and deeply appreciated.

Thank you for standing with us during this challenging time. With your support, we can overcome these obstacles and continue our mission of enriching lives through the power of the arts.