Tradeworks will miss the great people, and we wish them well in the future – Ray, Larry, and Antoinette, have been with us for more than ten years and have been the face of our programs.

Many of these people will be finding other work in the neighbourhood and remain committed to local residents. Tradeworks looks forward to working with them in new roles. Tradeworks thanks all staffers for their efforts, commitment and constructive initiative over the decade of real community service.

With no alternative funding for specialized services to the homeless and the poor in the inner-city, Pathways celebrated 9 years of community service with its closure Friday.

The event got great coverage in local media; Metro  and 24Hours

“Pathways was intentionally located at the hub of the community as a convenient place for people to access information and for people to be referred to community resources suitable to their needs,” said Ross Gentleman, Executive Director, Tradeworks Training Society. “We referred people to a variety of services – related to housing, employment, health, substance abuse, mental health, and more. It was not only an employment resource centre, because the neighbourhood needed more.”

“The neighbourhood has a high concentration of people who are poor, disabled and in transition. They need more support than a conventional employment centre offers.”

A new WorkBC Employment Service Centre is to open Monday April 2^nd on West Hastings Street. Mr. Gentleman noted that the new contractor was also concerned that the demands of local residents may exceed the capacity of the new centre.

Pathways was created 10 years ago to make it easier for people to find the services and agencies that they needed. It was a low-barrier access point and enrolled @3000 new people each year. Approximately 250 people visited the centre daily, over 60% of these members were homeless. For many employment may be a goal only after other issues are addressed.

“The neighbourhood is a place to which people retreat when they are in distress; often it is the result of a workplace injury, job loss, family breakdown, or something similar. The population is only 15,000, yet we see almost 3000 new people each year. That is a reflection of the need down here.”

“We know we have helped many people take control of their lives by treating them respectfully, connecting them to the community, and helping them navigate bureaucracies. We are proud of our contribution to the DTES over the last 9 years.”

400 people attended the event March 30^th to celebrate Pathways’ contribution to the community.

Bill 23 is online, but the amendments to the BC Corporations Act are a little cryptic.  As the release emphasizes, the model is likely best suited to innovative social enterprises.  Largely it follows the framework in last year’s consultation paper, the CCC has a community purpose (“a purpose of providing health, social, environmental, cultural, educational or other services, but does not include any prescribed purpose”) and is obliged to annually provide a “Community Contribution Report”.  The CCC is restricted from transferring assets at anything less than fair market value, paying dividends above a prescribed level, and otherwise distributing benefits to insiders or shareholders to the detriment of the ‘community benefits’.  And then there are provisions particular to dissolution, merger, and conversion.  Details will be easier to understand when related regulations are published.

Overall, the onus will be on shareholders and other stakeholders to monitor actions vigilantly.  The provision for government regulation is light.

Similar initiatives have been introduced in the UK and some states in the US.  The activity in these jurisdictions has varied, and in the UK complementary tax policies and grant programs made for a larger scale roll out.  In BC, a lot will depend on how foundations and venture philanthropists view the model when and if it is enacted.

The legislation will be under review in the BC legislature through the coming weeks.

The new Employment Program of BC consolidates a wide array of services into 73 WorkBC Employment Service Centres around the province.  Seven will serve the City of Vancouver as of April 2012, and a host of existing services will be closing down.  The biggest weakness is how each Employment Service Centre (“ESC”) will help those with special needs.  The model may work for reasonably skilled job hunters.  The model assumes that each ESC will refer clients with particular needs out to subcontractors with expertise – however several players with years of specialized experience have been squeezed out of neighbourhoods they once served; the CNIB, Developmental Disabilities Association, PEERS, Coast Foundation, Tradeworks, Progressive Intercultural Services, Strathcona Employment Assistance,  etc..  The pool of subcontractors for most ESC’s is relatively small and tends to cover larger subgroups only; such as the physically handicapped, new immigrants, and French speakers.

Some people are going to fall through the cracks, and they will be those less able fend for themselves – those with mental health issues, brain injuries, genetic anomalies, FAS, limited literacy skills, and other similar weaknesses and multiple barriers. If someone requires more help, but the fee maximums under the new fee schedule preclude it, the client will be on their own.  Similarly, the homeless and those recently leaving the criminal justice system will have fewer ‘re-entry’ points.   There is a substantial cutback in ‘street level’ services as a result of this new model.  (This is a primary reason for us to ensure Pathways Information Centre is retained.) The biggest threat to the City, in the inner-city, will be increased demands on libraries, community centres and police resources.

While the workshop was nominally about training and education, the discussion ranged widely.  Wayne Peppard and Deena Boeck comprised the remainder of the panel, respectively representing perspectives from the labour movement and academic institutions.  Three ideas linger:

• Government policy must be the catalyst and government must lead.  Demand for certain skills, and related technology, is only going to be expanded if we re-orient policy frameworks to induce change.  Procurement, education, research, regulatory and tax policies are part of the picture.
• Public institutions are prepared to take the lead and demonstrate how lower carbon footprints can be achieved. UBC is trail blazing on several fronts and is keen to integrate sustainability into operations, into educational curricula, and into the culture of the community.
• All jobs will be green jobs.  The idea of a green job is too narrow.   Jobs in the trades need to incorporate new green technologies as part of the trade; for example training for electricians must include solar technology.  Everyone has a role in building the green economy and it is not built on new narrowly defined ‘green technicians’, though some may evolve.

Tradeworks highlighted projects initiated by non-profits in Vancouver, projects which paired environmental goals with social goals.  The opportunity for a “Win-Win” is there.  Employing at-risk youth and others in the retrofit, deconstruction, and waste diversion initiatives compounds the potential benefits for the community at large.  Tradeworks tries to achieve these ends through Tradeworks Custom Products and Tradeworks Fab Shop.

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?