The Mission recently decided to stop taking up to $25,000 a year from gambling trusts and casinos because of concerns about the damage done by gaming machines in society.
Ms Black is pleased by the board's decision but is concerned about how the organisation will make up the funding shortfall without cutting core services.
It was a problem more social agencies were likely to face, she said.
‘‘Gambling addictions trash people.
‘‘Pokie machines and the industry around them seem to treat people as an open wallet rather than as humans.''
It was the antithesis of The Mission's approach to people, Ms Black said.
‘‘I'm really proud of the decision our board has made,'' she said.
‘‘I'd much rather face this funding problem than struggle with our ethics.
‘‘We are at the leading edge of an increasing debate about this in the [social agency] sector.
‘‘I believe more organisations will take this step.''
The Dunedin Mission's late-March decision followed a similar move by its Christchurch counterpart late last year.
And two weeks ago, The Salvation Army's national office announced it would no longer take gambling industry grants which had totalled hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
The Mission has provided social services in Dunedin for 118 years.
Today, it has a $2.4 million annual budget funding 70 part or full-time staff working with 1500 clients.
Half of its annual funding comes from government grants, and the rest from other grants and investments and service fees.
No longer accepting gambling grants - which had totalled between $13,000 and $25,000 pa during the past five years - was a principled decision not taken lightly, Ms Black said.
‘‘It is one of the benefits of being a valuesdriven organisation - you can put principle ahead of other considerations.
‘‘The board did not say, where are we going to get the money if we make this decision?
‘‘They said, this is the decision. Tell us what the impact will be and how we are going to cope.
‘‘Although there will be a financial impact for us, we would rather face that challenge, than undermine the integrity of our work.''
The Mission struggled to attract government funding because its programmes often did not have the short-term, measurable outcomes required to qualify for grants.
‘‘We prefer to work with the clients' agendas because research shows that produces more meaningful and longterm results.''
Services The Mission provides which receive no reliable funding include advocacy work for elderly people living in their own homes, a life-skills programme for children, promoting edible gardens in schools and social work arising from operating an early childhood learning centre.
Within two years, the organisation also faces the cost of relocating from all of its premises.
The Mission staff are at present preparing next year's budget.
‘‘I'm about to find out how big a problem we have,'' Ms Black said.
‘‘We use all the income from investments, and more, to keep our core services going.
‘‘If we eat into any of that capital then we will have to cut core services.''
