“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

Congratulations to Karen O’Shannacery of Vancouver – tireless advocate for homeless people – as she receives the 2011 Order of British Columbia!

Karen O’Shannacery has worked for more than four decades seeking solutions and providing comfort to the homeless and disenfranchised of Vancouver’s downtown eastside.

Ms. O’Shannacery’s compassion for those less fortunate has led to the establishment of quality resources and housing. She has a thorough understanding of the issues, is a tireless advocate for homeless people, a respected, well-spoken leader and a team player who works across boundaries to achieve change.

Among her many successes, Ms. O’Shannacery’s has created 17 housing projects, including three multi-use buildings, renovation of two single-room occupancy buildings and the opening of Antoinette Lodge, subsidized housing in Vancouver’s downtown eastside. She co-founded a provincial shelter network and was instrumental in the purchase and renovation of New Westminster’s former College Place night club, which now serves as a homeless shelter and transitional housing.

Ms. O’Shannacery has served on committees, boards and organizations involved with homelessness, including the Greater Vancouver Shelter Strategy committee, the Urban Core Workers Community Association and municipal task forces on homelessness in Burnaby, New Westminster and North Vancouver, and she is an original long-standing member of the Metro Vancouver’s Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness.

A celebration and singing of "For she is a jolly good lady!" took place at Vancouver Urban Core Community Workers' Association.

Toby Barrazzuol says he’s not a garden expert, but he and the team at Eclipse Awards and It’s Saul Good Gift Co have created a beautiful rooftop space for everyone in their office and manufacturing facility to enjoy. They grow food like strawberries, tomatoes, figs and a variety of herbs; flowers like irises, mallow, wisteria, clematis and lilies; edible weeds like chickweed and sorrel; and drought-tolerant species like sedums. That’s a lot of biodiversity for what was recently an asphalt roof!

What’s more, they DIY’d the heck out of it! Most of the garden is made from reclaimed materials scavenged from the community or found on Craigslist. Pathways are pallets and recycled decking, planter boxes are washtubs, and pots are secondhand.

When Eclipse and It’s Saul Good moved in to their current building it required a few renovations to meet their needs. They used the renovation process as an opportunity to incorporate plants and gardening into their office culture. In anticipation of the rooftop garden they added several large crossbeams (made from a sustainable pressed wood product) to ensure that the roof could support the weight of 25 people plus the garden soil. They also added two large skylights that bring enough natural light in to sustain many office plants, including this beautiful mass planting of African Violets. Looking up through the skylights you get a sneak peek at the rooftop garden.

The garden has been a couple of years in the making, and Toby says managing the garden continues to be a learning process. Crows and seagulls show up regularly to snack on young plants and eat tasty berries, and they have free reign since there are long periods where no one is on the roof to scare them off. They have an irrigation system, but some of the plants have nonetheless whithered a bit in the scorching sun of the last few weeks. Also, there’s no formal process for employees to manage the garden, so it’s a bit harder to plan regular tasks like weeding and garden clean up. A recent success is the worm composter they’ve added to their office, which is rapidly turning food scraps into rich soil for use in the garden.

Interestingly, Toby reports that there has been some debate among their office over the purpose of the garden. Should it be wild and green, letting whatever wants to grow take root? Or should it be a place to cultivate food in a more purposeful way? For the time being they have come up with a great compromise, planting a central bed with 100 strawberry plants and letting a few edible weeds spring up in between.

This garden is a great case study for anyone interested in starting a green roof project and making their home or business that much more sustainable. We hope you can learn from Toby’s experience and develop one in your workplace. Congrats to the whole team at Eclipse and It’s Saul Good for working together to make this great project happen!

And for you design nerds out there, enjoy a few more of Lani’s beautiful pictures…

Photography by Lani Johnson

What difference can a pair of boots make?

For this man, a pair of boots for roofing has meant a roof over his head.  After living for 3 months at a local shelter, *David found his own bachelor suite and job at a roofing company.  Unfortunately, after years of trying to get back on his feet, David doesn’t have the money required to get proper boots.  And getting a new place means more expenses and a tight budget.

David is determined not to lose his place and not to end up back on the street or a shelter.  So he has been  wearing his old boots…  Without steel toes, and falling apart.   After a referral to BOB’s Supported Employment Program we were able to get his feet into a solid pair of steel toes.

Congratulations David, on all your hard work!

*Not his real name.

Doris from SOLEfood

Sitting on the street, sipping my iced americano at Columbia and Pender, I saw a beautiful sight.  Gorgeous Dalias being delivered by bicycle!  Doris from our local urban farm called SOLEfood, is taking flowers to Olla Urban Flower Project by my favorite sustainable mode of transportation.

SOLEfood Urban Farm is located at Hawks and Hastings in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.  They produce local food and employ local residents, bringing fresh food to a colorful neighborhood.  You can buy their produce at the Main Street Station Farmers Market on Wednesdays at 3-7pm.

Olla Urban Flower Project is a socially responsible business selling beautiful flowers in Gastown at 235 Cambie Street.  She sources all her flowers locally,  intends to hire residents from the neighborhood and is working towards zero waste.  Megan Branson, who started the business, is graduate from the Embers Build a Business Program.

Dalias enroute to Olla