AND FINALLY, IT SEEMED THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT WAS READY TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO GRANDPARENTS RAISING THEIR GRANDCHILDREN.

BUT NOW, LESS THAN A MONTH AFTER THE PROGRAM WAS ANNOUNCED, THOSE GRANDPARENTS FEEL BETRAYED.

IN LATE JANUARY, MARY ANNE CHAMBERS, MINISTER OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES, ANNOUNCED THAT GRANDPARENTS RAISING CHILDREN WOULD RECEIVE ABOUT $900 PER MONTH FROM THEIR LOCAL CHILDREN'S ASSOCIATIONS SUCH AS FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES NIAGARA.

IT'S THE SAME FUNDING PAID TO REGISTERED FOSTER PARENTS. IT'S PRECISELY WHAT PELHAM RESIDENT SHEILA VOLCHERT AND SECOND CHANCE FOR KIDS - AN ORGANIZATION REPRESENTING ABOUT 80 FAMILIES - HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR DURING THE PAST FEW YEARS.

FOR THE GRANDPARENTS, MANY OF THEM RETIRED LIVING ON PENSIONS OR OTHER FORMS OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE, THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH RAISING A CHILD ARE HARD TO BEAR.

"YOU'VE GOT DIAPERS, CLOTHES, SHOES, FOOD, YOU'VE GOT THIS AND YOU'VE GOT THAT. AND KIDS AREN'T GOING TO STOP GROWING," SAID ANNA LACHAPELLE, A WELLAND RESIDENT RAISING HER 16-MONTH-OLD GRANDSON WHILE LIVING ON A DISABILITY PENSION.

THE GOVERNMENT'S NEW PROGRAM WAS SOMETHING THEY WERE LOOKING FORWARD TO WITH ANTICIPATION.

BECAUSE OF THE ADVOCACY WORK VOLCHERT HAD DONE, SHE WAS EVEN ASKED TO SPEAK DURING THE MEDIA CONFERENCE ANNOUNCING THE FUNDING, AN EVENT SHE SAID SHE WAS HAPPY TO BE PART OF.

VOLCHERT, WHO IS RAISING HER NINE AND 11-YEAR-OLD GRANDCHILDREN, WAS ALSO CONGRATULATED BY NUMEROUS PEOPLE ON THE LAUNCH OF THE NEW PROGRAM, ACKNOWLEDGING THE YEARS OF WORK SHE DEDICATED TO GETTING GRANDPARENTS FAIR TREATMENT.

BUT WHEN WEEKS HAD PASSED AND NOTHING HAPPENED, VOLCHERT STARTED TO WORRY.

GRANDPARENTS HOPING TO SIGN UP FOR THE PROGRAM CONTACTED LOCAL FACS OFFICES, AND WERE REFERRED TO OTHER AGENCIES. THEIR EFFORTS TO ACCESS THE NEW FUNDING PROGRAM LED ONLY TO FRUSTRATION.

LAST WEEK, VOLCHERT AND TERRY HRANKOWSKI FROM SECOND CHANCE FOR KIDS WENT TO TORONTO HOPING FOR SOME ANSWERS.

THEY MET WITH CHRIS CARSON, THE POLICY ADVISER TO THE MINISTER, AND LEARNED THE GOVERNMENT'S PROGRAM DOES NOT APPLY TO GRANDPARENTS WHO TOOK THEIR GRANDCHILDREN INTO CARE PRIOR TO THE PROGRAM'S LAUNCH. AS A RESULT, NONE OF THE GRANDPARENTS WHO FOUGHT FOR THE PROGRAM'S INCEPTION IN THE FIRST PLACE WILL BENEFIT FROM IT, SHE SAID.

"IT IS SO DISCRIMINATING."

SHE SAID THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE PROGRAM, WHICH WAS DESIGNED TO BENEFIT GRANDPARENTS, WAS NOT GRANDFATHERED.

MEANWHILE, THE GOVERNMENT "COMMENDED US FOR TAKING ON THE CARE OF THE CHILDREN BECAUSE IT'S REALLY SAVING TAXPAYERS A LOT OF MONEY," SHE SAID. "WHAT A SLAP IN THE FACE."

THEY LEFT THAT MEETING WITH CARSON "FEELING SO DEJECTED," SHE RECALLED.

"SHAME ON THIS LIBERAL GOVERNMENT. THEY'VE REALLY WHACKED US THIS TIME."

FOLLOWING THEIR MEETING WITH CARSON, VOLCHERT AND HRANKOWSKI ALSO MET WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF CARP (CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR RETIRED PEOPLE), WHICH HAS "REALLY BEEN BEHIND US THESE LAST COUPLE YEARS, REALLY ADVOCATING FOR SENIORS' RIGHTS," VOLCHERT SAID. "THEY WERE THE FIRST ONES THAT CALLED US WHEN WE HEARD THE ANNOUNCEMENT."

REPRESENTATIVES OF THAT ORGANIZATION WERE "JUST ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED THAT THERE ISN'T GOING TO BE FUNDING THERE FOR US."

CARP, SHE ADDED, PLANS TO MEET WITH PROVINCIAL OPPOSITION PARTIES, AS WELL AS PREMIER DALTON MCGUINTY, AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, "AND REALLY TRY TO ADVOCATE FOR US."

CARP ALSO ADVISED VOLCHERT AND HER COLLEAGUES THAT THEY NEED TO SPREAD THE WORD THROUGHOUT THEIR COMMUNITIES.

"EVERYBODY THINKS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE GETTING THIS $900 PER CHILD AND IT'S JUST NOT HAPPENING," SHE SAID.

LACHAPELLE WAS ALSO EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED, BUT NOT THAT SURPRISED. "THAT'S THE GOVERNMENT FOR YOU - TOTALLY, UTTERLY STUPID. THIS GRANDPARENT THING IS JUST ANOTHER BIG HOAX, ANOTHER BIG FAT LIE JUST TO GET PEOPLE TO VOTE FOR THEM."

VOLCHERT PLANS TO CONTINUE ADVOCATING FOR HER FELLOW GRANDPARENTS.

"WE'RE NOT GOING AWAY. WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE AND ADVOCATE."

NIAGARA CENTRE MPP PETER KORMOS IS ALSO ADVOCATING ON BEHALF OF AREA GRANDPARENTS.

"HE'S REALLY IRATE ABOUT IT," VOLCHERT SAID.

HE RECENTLY WROTE A LETTER TO CHAMBERS EXPRESSING HIS OUTRAGE.

"GRANDPARENTS RAISING THEIR GRANDCHILDREN HAVE WAITED LONG ENOUGH FOR HELP FROM THIS GOVERNMENT. TALK IS CHEAP, MINISTER," HE WROTE. "WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE THIS A REAL PROGRAM RATHER THAN THE BAIT AND SWITCH THAT IT CURRENTLY IS?"