The Society Act is one a a few essential bits of corporate legislation that set out the ‘legal person’ framework for business, community and creative enterprises.  Beyond the technical elements, there are general principals that are enshrined through the law; related to purposes & powers, memberships, governance, public accountability, capitalization, etc.  Rather than simply defer to a few lawyers, policy analysts and larger non-profits, it is really up to a vigilant non-profit sector to ensure the law is written so that is serves the larger purposes of the non-profit sector, and the diverse entities.

Tradeworks would welcome an opportunity to collaboratively work with other community based non-profits in undertaking a review of the proposals and responding to the discussion paper.  For those who are interested, the BC Law Institute paper in 2008 provides an excellent history of the Society Act and elaboration on some particular concerns.

Withdrawal of our funding by the Ministry of Social Development has prompted several media pieces and the Bill Good Show was one of the best.  Subsequent coverage on CBC Radio, the Globe and Mail and the Vancouver Courier has been great.

Tradeworks Training Society met with the Minister in November but neither the Ministry nor other arms of government have stepped up. The Downtown East Side is a neighbourhood to which people retreat when they hit hard times.  But they need help getting back on the feet.  Pathways, a low barrier, easy access resource centre at Main & Hastings and the centre sees @3000 new members each year.  The government’s planned ‘Employment Service Centre’ anticipates only serving @500 higher needs job seekers each year.  Where will the other people go?

What is not stated directly enough, is that the number of people in the inner-city struggling to ‘attach to the workforce’ is huge.  And the government’s plan for employment services does not serve the population well.

10,000 people live in ‘low income households’ in the DTES.  Pathways, a low-barrier access point and referral centre, registers @3,000 new members each year.  Pathways has, for 9 years, worked to address the needs of the DTES by connecting people to community services when they need them.  Daily 200-250 people stop in to use the computers, talk to counselors.  The Ministry of Social Development’s new streamlined Employment Service Centre  is supposed to replace Pathways and several other existing services on April 1, 2012.  The new proposed Employment Service Centre,  for the much larger  ‘catchment area’ (Nanaimo to Richards), anticipates serving only 500 high needs job seekers annually.

Put simply, where do the other unemployed and under-employed people in the DTES go?

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On a related note, Metro News featured a story on the Fab Shop about the contributions it made to the 2010 Olympics. The Shop is involved in building a legacy for BC Games and needs your help. [Read More]

Check out the article to read more!

The program is transformational for many of the participants.  It provides focus and support for them to reorient their lives.

Government supports the program in part, but the program relies heavily on private donations and corporate support.  RONA Foundation is now a key sponsor and we thank them for stepping up.  It costs @$15k for each student’s training and wage subsidy.  If you, your business or family are in a position to help support the Fab Shop program, we’d welcome your help.  Tradeworks is a registered charity and donations on-line are welcome.   For more info: the fab shop

If you can direct business to the Fab Shop, that would be great too.  Thanks and have a most rewarding holiday season.

12 Days of Christmas

Back by popular demand, Tradeworks Custom Products (TCP) presents a new ornament line “the 12 Days of Christmas,” now available for purchase at 13 RONA locations in Metro Vancouver.

“With the purchase of these ornaments you can empower women to learn a new trade and support their transition to a new career,” said Tradeworks Executive Director, Ross Gentleman. “TCP brings women together in a positive environment where they work with mentors and support each other to make positive changes to their lives.”

Tradeworks Custom Products (TCP) is a social enterprise operated by Tradeworks Training Society, which is located in Vancouver’s downtown eastside; a community with a high proportion of residents living in poverty and/or dealing with other barriers to employment. TCP trains women in a custom woodworking shop, empowering them to make sustainable changes in their individual lives.

Purchase of these ornaments will also help the environment. TCP uses sustainable BC wood, such as pine beetle wood for these ornaments, and recycles other manufacturer’s discards that would otherwise go to landfill.

The Twelve Days of Christmas ornaments are available for a limited time. They are available in sets of 12, or three, or singles. To show your support for TCP, visit RONA Home Building Centres throughout Metro Vancouver or find TCP online at www.tradeworks.bc.ca/tcp.

Happy Holidays!

Tradeworks thanks Sidhant Sharma,  Jinsoo Chung and the others on the organizing committee for their hard work and for choosing Tradeworks to be the beneficiary of the net proceeds of this event.

I wide array of projects and ideas were presented to demonstrate creative ways people have risen to respond to community challenges and social problems. The term ‘social innovation’ was used heavily and encompassed social enterprises, multiparty collaborations, novel financial instruments and structures, online linkages, and more.  More info at www.innovatebc.ca/

The BC Advisory Council for Social Entrepreneurship released a discussion paper and invited input at http://socialinnovationbc.ca/

And the Premier announced a online competition to be opened in January to solicit ideas province-wide on social innovation ideas and projects.