“They looked after me, now I can look after them”

Jack Johnson* is a maintenance worker at the Lookout who truly appreciates the value of a daytime work schedule and a book of bus tickets. Jack was formerly a hotel banquet manager. As a self-described workaholic, the stressful twelve hour days that went long into the night cost him his relationship with his wife and family. He turned to alcohol to forget his troubles and wound up on the street, unemployed, sleeping on train tracks and camping out in the mountains for several years. Jack reached a turning point after ending up in the hospital, where a social worker got him a room at the Lookout shelter. He says “I’ve met so many good people over there. And they gave me a wake up call.”

After getting sober Jack was ready to make a change, improve his health, reconnect with his son, and go back to work. Having worked in hotel management, as a fisherman and a carpenter he had lots of skills, but needed help creating a resume. He connected to Pathways where he “clicked” with Chelsea.  She helped with computer skills, resumes and job applications. After months of no calls back, he suddenly got 5 calls in one week! The last was the Lookout, looking for a maintenance worker. The choice was clear for Jack. “They looked after me, now I can look after them. That’s my payback.”

He was then faced with the challenge of how to get to work at his new job. The work site is in North Vancouver, but he lives in the inner-city. Jack came to BOB to get the bus tickets he needed to get to work for those crucial first two weeks until payday. While bus tickets may seem like a little thing, they’re not to someone like Jack. As a fisherman, he would walk from the North Vancouver shipyards and over the Lion’s Gate bridge to downtown for entertainment and community. In his words, “little things like bus tickets mean a lot”.

Having been on the job for almost 2 months, Jack finds the work is more than just routine maintenance. He has the chance to be the positive role model that he encountered when staying at the Lookout himself. “I can look after people…I can see what they need, what the problem is. I understand what they are going through.”

Now Jack works eight hour days and says “I have time to enjoy everything”. This is a big change from his old career where he rarely had free time, and a huge change from his life on the streets. Now that winter is just around the corner, he “will be up in the mountains skiing,” a pastime that his son also enjoys and they can do together when visits. He hopes that by sharing his story he can help others in his situation feel like they have a choice. The Lookout is fortunate to have such an enthusiastic and compassionate maintenance worker join their team.  Congratulations Jack, we wish you all the best!

*Not his real name. Jack wishes to remain anonymous.

Welcome Danielle!

We are very excited to have Danielle Kottmeier join the SEP team as our new Employment Support Coordinator. Danielle brings over five years experience supporting people with disabilities and is passionate about coaching and mentoring individuals to achieve their goals. For the past two years, she has worked at IAM CARES Society as an Employment Counsellor and Case Manager. You can read more about Danielle on our blog. Welcome Danielle!

JOB POSTINGS

Visit www.bobics.org and look under ‘HR Services’ to apply.

Intakes for the Cycleback Bicycle Repair Program are on-going.

Trumps Fine Foods: Dishwasher/Helper

Army and Navy: Men’s Wear Clerk

EVENTS

SHINE Supper November 21st

All SEP clients, past and present, are welcome to join us for dinner at the BOB office from 4-6pm!

RSVP to Emily at 778-328-7660  or emily.smith@bobics.org

Take our Survey!

All clients, employers, and agencies involved with BOB can take our survey to help us stay open past March 2012. And you get a chance to win a prize! Did you get  a survey in your email? If not, contact Emily 778-328-7660 or emily.smith@bobics.org

EMPLOYER PARTNERSHIPS: PROVIDING SUPPORTIVE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE INNER-CITY

In this issue we’re celebrating some of our employer partners and the recent hiring they’ve done. Employer partnerships are key to ensuring that opportunities developed as part of a greater process of economic revitalization are inclusive and accessible to inner-city residents. When we partner with employers for hiring, we seek their commitment to work closely with our Employment Support Coordinators (ESC). By doing so, if a person’s life circumstances affect their performance on the job, the employer informs BOB as soon as possible. The ESC can then intervene and support the employee with counselling, further training, and whatever they need to keep the position and succeed on the job. For many of our clients, this supportive intervention means they can continue on the positive life path they have worked hard to carve out for themselves and avoid losing the job, losing self confidence, and having to start over again. So without further adieu we want to celebrate our employer partners and the important role they play in our network of support!

London Drugs: The Woodwards location of London Drugs recently posted a shelf stocker position through BOB. GM Garth Kohlenberg is a big supporter of hiring locally and has hired our candidate Judith Yamada. In addition, Judith will be trained as a cashier due to her strong skill set.  Congratulations Judith!

Acme Labs: Acme Labs is the latest employer to sign our Employer Commitment form. They are now posting positions through BOB and have interviewed candidates who require supportive opportunities. They have a strong history of supporting their employees and we welcome them to our family.

Firehall Arts Centre: James Sarmiento is a BOB candidate who was recently hired as a custodian for the Firehall Arts Centre. Congratulations James! The Firehall is an inner-city employer who works closely with BOB and have hired a variety of BOB candidates. They currently are looking for an amazing Administrative Coordinator.

GOODBYE ADA!

It is with mixed feelings that we say farewell to Ada Mo-Williams. Ada has been an Employment Support Coordinator with BOB for over two years, where she has played a key role in delivering the Supported Employment Program. Ada is passionate about her career, and has used her skills to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. Her counselling has helped many clients through difficult times to help them find success both on the job and in life. Ada, you have gone above and beyond to support your clients and we congratulate you on all the great work you have done here at BOB. We wish you all the best in your new life as a mom and can’t wait to go for dim sum together after the baby comes!

Ada with clients Harris (left) and Justin (right)

NEW JOB POSTINGS

Visit www.bobics.org and look under ‘HR Services’ to apply.

Intakes for the Cycleback Bicycle Repair Program are on-going.

The Firehall Arts Centre is hiring an  Administrative Coordinator. Position closes 10/7/2011.

Urban Ink is hiring a Communications Coordinator. Position closes 10/11/2011.

Edgewater Casino is hiring a Dishwasher. Position closes 10/14/2011.

The Cleaning Solution is hiring a Commercial Cleaner. Position closes 10/14/2011.

Trimpac Sysco is hiring a General Labourer. Position closes 10/14/2011.

EVENTS

SHINE Supper, October 24th

All SEP clients, past and present, are welcome to join us for dinner at the BOB office from 4-6pm!

RSVP to Emily at 778-328-7660  or emily.smith@bobics.org

While reading this blog posting, may we suggest that you play the following music. http://tinysong.com/fV1b

Now that we’ve set the atmosphere..

The Challenge

At BOB, we want to challenge ourselves to act more sustainable and authentically green.  So..  In order to challenge ourselves we would like to have a challenger!  We are hoping that YOU or your workplace will be up for this challenge and we’ll see how it goes!

The Point!

We want to be more green and recycle..  But it can be quite intimidating.  So we have one challenge a month, so that it is manageable and you can learn the ways of the green.

The Challenge!

• 4 people from BOB, would like to challenge a team of 4.  Or if you have a bigger or smaller group, we’ll just adjust how we score. 
• You need a team name.  And it better be good.

• Each month there will be one ‘green/recycling task’ that each person in the challenge will have to complete.

• The team who has the highest percentage of participation that complete challenges each wins!!

What do they win, you ask?  Fantastic question!  The winning team receives the ‘cup of awesome’ for one month!!!  (I’ve attached a picture of said cup of awesome)  And we can all get together for a ‘green lunch’ (also known as a salad potluck) to celebrate all of our awesomeness.

The Cup of Awesome

6 Month Green Challenge!

(one task per month)

1. Home & Office Recycling – Recycle paper and plastics.  The PROPER plastics.  Know the numbers and throw them in.
2. Beyond the Blue Box – A month of recycling all household and work plastics that aren’t city recycled.  And find a venue close to your house to take them!  (Brittania is close for me..)
3. Paint! – Find old paint, or someone else’s old paint that is going to waste and take it to the closest paint recycler.
4. Batteries – You know the drill..
5. Electronics – Same drill..
6. Compost.  This one will require some creativity by us.  But we can do it!!

For all of the green yogis out there..  Yes, this may be beginner.  But some of us are.  Join anyway!  Show us how it’s done.

Let me know if you are in..   And let the best greeny’s win!!  (even though, really, we all win in the end)

To accept this challenge (or for more info) contact Emily and Lani at jobpostings@bobics.org

September 2011

BOB is Involved with some Great Local Businesses

As you may know, BOB’s mandate is to support an economic development model for Vancouver’s inner-city that is inclusive of existing residents and businesses. This is no small task, so we try to take a comprehensive approach. We work with entrepreneurs to help them get loans and grants to start their businesses. We work with business owners to provide HR services that support hiring people who are from the inner-city and have challenges to find and keep employment. We work with jobseekers to connect them to the opportunities we post. And we work with new employees to give them the practical support they need to keep their job and succeed.

We believe that this two pronged approach – working with businesses and residents – is key to creating new opportunities in the inner-city economy that help build community and social capital. A great example of the success of this model is the newly opened W2 Media Café in the Woodwards Building.

The BOB Loans program provided a portion of the start-up funding for the café. This funding complemented the countless hours of hard work W2 management and volunteers put in since 2002 to make their vision of a socially inclusive media arts and culture centre in the DTES become a reality.

W2 hired all local DTES and East Van residents to staff the café. They posted positions through their networks and through BOB’s JobPostings service. BOB’s BusinessLinks program assisted the W2 team with interviewing and candidate selection, and also sponsored barista training for 12 folks to get FoodSafe certification, customer service training, a programming overview of the media cafe, and more. Some of the successful candidates also received further support through our Supported Employment Program, getting the bus tickets and food vouchers they needed to make it to their first paycheck, and the life skills support and resources they needed to help them adjust to life on the job.

BusinessLinks Barista Training - Photo courtesy Sakura Yoshita & W2 Media Cafe

Cafe staff are now getting great opportunities to build skills and pursue activities beyond the cafe counter; several of our BusinessLinks graduates enthusiastically report getting involved with event co-ordination, volunteer coordination and program development for projects like the W2 Letterpress Studio and kids & youth media camp.

We congratulate W2 on the great job they have done building a fantastic social enterprise and inclusive community resource centre from the ground up.

Did You Know…

Did you know that the BOB Loans Program has supported the start-up of several other local businesses you may have noticed? These include the reopening of Save-on-Meats at their iconic 43 West Hastings storefront, Scent of a Sandwich (opening soon at 418 Main), Calabash at 428 Carrall St, and Yogiberry at 306 Carrall St.

Andrew and Lani at Save-on-Meats. Lani's coffee is by W2 Media Cafe.

New Job Postings

Visit www.bobics.org and look under ‘HR Services’ to apply.

Intakes for the Cycleback Bicycle Repair Program are on-going. Contact Lani at lani.johnson@bobics.org to book an appointment.

W2 Media Café
Senior Barista
Cook

Recycling Alternative
Recycling Sorter/Tote Washer

Events
SHINE Supper – September 19th
All past and present clients of BOB’s Supported Employment Program are welcome to join us for dinner at the BOB office from 4-6pm! Catered meal by Potluck Cafe. RSVP to 778-328-7660 or emily.smith@bobics.org

That’s right, the much anticipated W2 Media Cafe is open for business! They’re serving yummy Saltspring coffee and a variety of other delicious offerings. Come for the food & drink, stay for the community, politics, media and art!

The media cafe is collectively run social enterprise with a mandate to provide accessible technology for media and communications to all those to all those who need it. And that need is a pressing one: according to W2′s statistics, at least 6,000 DTES residents are without telephone, internet, or computer access. We see this in BOB’s Supported Employment Program, where many of our clients describe having no phone or computer at home, and get only limited access to communications technology through inner-city community resources that are often very busy and only open during standard business hours; many see this lack of access to technology as an obstacle to achieving their goals in life and on the job. It can also make it hard to find a job, secure permanent housing, and assert one’s voice to advocate for political change.

Fojan, an acting student, is making delicious coffee and helping with W2 programming

In terms of community, W2 hired all local DTES and East Van residents to staff the cafe. BOB’s BusinessLinks program assisted the W2 team with with hiring outreach and candidate selection, and sponsored barista training for 12 folks to get FoodSafe certification, customer service training, a programming overview of the media cafe, and more. Cafe staff are getting great opportunities to build skills and pursue activities beyond the cafe counter; several of our BusinessLinks graduates enthusiastically report getting involved with event coordination and program development for projects like the W2 Letterpress Studio and kids & youth media camp.

Debbie is a mother of 3 made temporarily homeless by unwanted apartment renovations in East Vancouver. She plays goalie for the DTES Women’s Street Soccer team and is going to Paris to play in the 2011 Homeless World Cup. She and her family are now well housed. She cites her employment at the cafe, as well as the community she connected with there, as a key part of her return to housing stability. Congratulations Debbie!

Tech geeks, artists, and anyone interested in DIY electronics will appreciate the interactive light display largely DIY’d by W2′s Tech Director WillStacey. You control the interface from within the cafe. Adjust the display pattern and the RGB scale, and look up to see the results! More exciting interactive art and technology installations to come through their Media Artist in Residence Program. Sensitive to the needs of the neighborhood, the cafe also provides free community meeting space, publicly accessible washrooms and lounge, a community media lab, and much more.

BOB is pleased to be part of supporting the start-up of W2 Media Cafe through our Loans Program. We congratulate all the founders and staff on the cafe opening, and look forward to seeing more great things come out of this ambitious project founded on grassroots principles of social inclusion. Well done!