We are very excited to have Danielle Kottmeier join the SEP team as our new Employment Support Coordinator. She is taking over for Ada Mo-Williams who has had her baby and is happily on maternity leave. Congratulations Danielle!

Danielle brings over five years experience supporting persons with disabilities and is passionate about coaching and mentoring individuals to achieve their goals. For the past two years, Danielle worked at IAM CARES Society as an Employment Counsellor and Case Manager for individuals that have had challenges finding and keeping employment.

Danielle is a tireless and enthusiastic supporter and takes great care to match people with the employment to which they are best suited. Danielle is thrilled to join the BOB team and is excited at the opportunity to work within the Inner City Community – an area she enjoys due to its diversity, culture and sense of place.

In her spare time, Danielle enjoys being active. She likes taking exceptionally long walks or hopping on her bike to get around the city – she intends to commute by bike to work at BOB, even in the rain!  Danielle adores animals of all kinds, but she is especially fond of her two cats: Leroy and Juniper.

Welcome Danielle!

The long awaited Scent of a Sandwich is now open! They do eat in, take out, and catering of – you guessed it – sandwiches!

In particular, they make hot sandwiches stuffed to the gills with gourmet meats, cheeses and veggies. They also have a nutella and bananna option for a sophisticated alternative to the old favorite PB&J. Their catering menu is more extensive, offering breakfast pastries, fruit platters, cheese platters, dips and more. They also offer free consultations if you want do do an extra special lunch presentation for your office, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with Thomas and let him know exactly what you need!

What we really admire about Scent of a Sandwich is that they’re on board with the idea of inclusive revitalization, where economic development that takes place in historically under-served communities like the DTES is intentionally inclusive of existing residents in businesses. Scent of a Sandwich has demonstrated their commitment to inclusive revitalization by partnering with local employment agencies like BOB and Pathways, hiring locally through the Pathways 100 Hired Challenge, and improving their formerly vacant storefront on Main Street between Pender and Abbot (in partnership with BOB and the City of Vancouver’s Facade Program). BOB also put on a BusinessLinks session with them to do a culinary & catering staff skills training event.

Furthermore, they’re also interested in being sustainable, and are doing all their deliveries by tricycle! Looks like they’re using disposable plates at the moment, though…surely that will change soon once they get more established.

You can check them out in their new location at 418 Main St. Welcome to the neighborhood from the whole team here at BOB!

Hendrik Hoekema, Executive Director of VEEES and the Emporium

Hendrik Hoekema, BOB Board Member and founder of Vancouver Eastside Educational Enrichment Society (VEEES), has started a new social enterprise on Hastings Street. Everything but the Kitchen Sink Emporium is selling some of the physical components that contributed to the intangible legacy left by the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Located a block away from SOLEfood urban farm, the Emporium does, in fact, sell almost everything one could ever want. The store offers gently used or excess Olympic equipment and paraphernalia, and ‘as is’ furniture donated to them by various companies in the Lower Mainland. Some stock is straight from the Olympic Village and the Lost & Found which operated during the Games. From the Emporium’s warehouse storage space, employees bring in new items daily, ranging from construction gear and office supplies, to clothing and accessories. Appropriately enough, they have umbrellas in abundance. If you are ever in need of an industrial-sized bottle of hand sanitizer, they have that too.

Many social enterprises function as the primary means of funding for a non-profit organization. The Emporium works in partnership with the Network of Inner City Community Services Society (NICCSS). NICCSS was formed in 1996 and provides many valuable programs and resources within the Grandview Woodlands, Strathcona, and the Downtown Eastside neighbourhoods. Their mandate is to build nurturing networks that optimize the development of children and youth, and strengthen families in the inner city. All of the proceeds from the Emporium’s sales go to support NICCSS.

The Emporium is at 875 East Hastings Street and is open from 11am – 6pm Monday to Saturday. Only cash is accepted so stop by an ATM in preparation for the great bargains that you will inevitably pick up.

For more information, call (604) 568-0775.

Below are a just a few of the items that were in the shop the day of our visit.  Happy deal hunting!

Article by:  Lauren McGuire-Wood

Photos by:  Lani Johnson

The Metropole Pub has announced that 25% of all yearly profits will go to support DTES organizations

Some fantastic new places have recently opened their doors to the neighbourhood. Everything Cafe, the newest locale to be opened by Sean Heather, adds nicely to a recently revitalized Pender Street that includes the new Blim space, Bob Rennie’s offices, Ming Wo, Bombast Furniture and well, the Building Opportunities with Business office and Co-working space, among other great spots. Everything has a very nice, subtle and welcoming interrior with some of the best coffee I’ve tasted yet. I haven’t tried the sandwiches yet but the menu is excellent and a good price too, if it’s anything like the quality of sandwiches at the Salty Tongue then this place is going to be a fast favorite for locals.

photo from http://goodlifevancouver.com/tag/vancouver-restaurant/

Acme Cafe is one of the most charming little spots to open up recently, someone described it as “Straight out of the pages of an Archie comic, it’s Pop Tate’s Chock’lit Shoppe meets American Graffiti’s Mel’s Diner.” and the food is fantastic (made by a real actual French Chef!). How about a Turkey and brie Ciabatta with cranberry–Grand Marnier sauce, grainy dijon mayo? Or Meat Loaf with garlic baby nugget potatoes and salad for $11.50? Vegetarian options abound as well. Great breakfast items (Omelets, eggs and bacon, breakfast croissants etc) and pints of R&B for $5.00 too. Not too shabby…

And last but certainly not least we’d like to welcome the Donnelly Group’s newest pub, the Metropole. It’s not entirely accurate to call the Metropole a new pub as it’s technically over 100 years old! Between Hastings and Pender on Abbot Street, The Metropole is having it’s grand opening tomorrow night (Wednesday the 20th of May) and I for one am excited to welcome this newest incarnation of the legendary venue as it was recently announced that 25% of all yearly profits from the pub will go to support local DTES organizations including United We Can, The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and DTES Food Bank. I went to a fantastic night here recently called Westbound and Down (Every 2nd Thursday of the month) where the DJs played a great blend of classic punk, post punk alternative, old gnarly country and Ska tunes. I felt like I was in Brooklyn, or Wicker Park Chicago, it was a fresh kind of atmosphere that has been lacking in Vancouver’s club and pub scene since the days of the Starfish Room, Town Pump, Niagra, or Smilin’ Buddha.

It’s exciting to see these new places opening up in the DTES let alone seeing the eagerness to become involved in the community. Will and I will likely be having a game of pool at the Metropole this Friday after work, come and join us. Or maybe we’ll see you at Westbound and Down June 10th.  If you want to hang out even sooner I’ll be heading to Acme or Everythin Cafe right about now to grab a sammich.

-wes-

Vancouver's laid back west coast lifestyle suits gray whales just fine

It’s been a long time since a gray whale was spotted in Vancouver’s False Creek, and residents here are excited to say the least. Liz Charyna here at BOB saw the gentle giant twice while her dragon boat team was practicing yesterday evening, and whale watchers have lined up along Granville Island, on the Sea Wall in Yaletown and on the various bridges to catch a rare glimpse themselves.

There has been much speculation regarding the whale’s cavalier sauntering about in such a high traffic channel. Is this a sign that our waterways are considered healthier and safer by the species? Has this whale lost its mind? Is it a Trojan Whale? Is this going to end up being a playoffs PR stunt by the Green Men?  Well I think the answer is obvious.

Even a gray whale knows that East Van is the place to be!

This aerial view shows the circuit in which the whale paced about, wondering about mortgages and bank rates

Clearly this beautiful beast heard about Athletes Village winning LEED Platinum Certification, honoring it as the Greenest Neighbourhood in the World. Spending the majority of its time milling about between Granville Bridge and South East False Creek, where the impressive residential development is located, it was clear to me that this whale wants in on the action, and has set its sight on Vancouver’s blossoming Eastside. Yes the secret is out.

South East False Creek’s Athletes Village is  just minutes away from a vibrant Chinatown with exciting new restaurants like Bao Bei, The Keefer Bar, and Campognolo, great shops like Ming Wo,  Bamboo Village and Cathay Importers not to mention our world renowned Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden.

Athletes Village, the award winning LEED Platinum development in SE False Creek that this whale is clearly looking to buy in

Just a five minute walk from the development are the hipster havens of Mt. Pleasent and SOMA, packed with countless neighbourhood watering holes, fashion boutiques, and every amenity an urban whale could need. He or she would  also be close to the new Canada Line Skytrain Route, giving it a convenient and direct transit option to Vancouver’s international airport.

Somehow, between its yearly migration from Mexico to Alaska, this whale heard about how Vancouver’s Eastside has become an innovative hot bed for social enterprise, urban agriculture and art & culture. Music venues like the Rickshaw Theatre, Chapel Arts, The Biltmore, and the Firehall, guarantee this whale something interesting to check out every night of the week; it must be taking that into account looking to live so close to it. He or she probably knows that they are also more than welcome to become a member at the legendary Anza Club just up the hill from Athletes Village (ten bucks, seriously, that’s all it takes, but they might have to take out the pool table for he or she to fit in there).

Just a brief walk from Gastown and Granville Island, someone gave this whale a hot real estate tip that SE False Creek, Mt. Pleasant, the DTES and Strathcona have all become increasingly attractive areas to live, work and play. So it’s only natural that on a sunny afternoon he or she would peruse the area looking for the perfect spot, close to all these great places, right on/in the water.

Well…there goes the neighbourhood.