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!

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.

Many moons ago, when we were at our old offices Mina Jung came into our office about opening up her dream business, selling healthy Korean food as a lunch alternative. She planned on calling the business Next Sunday Kimbab because as a child she always looked forward to the Next Sunday. It took a while and the idea was refined, but Next Sunday Kimbab is now open and providing healthy Korean food delivered to your office for lunch or meetings.

A Next Sunday Kimbab retail location is still in the long term plans, but BOB staff were quite happy with the samples Mina brought over today. So consider Kimbab for your next meeting or staff lunch, you can learn more about Next Sunday Kimbab from their Facebook Page or their blog.

They plan to have live music on some nights, their website is under construction, but they’re already in Google.

Photo: Steven Ballegeer

Two weeks ago we interviewed Boris Mann of Bootup Labs, a technology and software accelerator housing several innovative startups in Vancouver’s beautifully restored Flack Block. This week BOB would like to welcome another innovative company who have also relocated to the Flack Block, eaga Canada (yes it is not capitalized). eaga describes itself as:

a social enterprise and provider of green support services and solutions in the residential sector. The issues we address are; tackling climate change, promoting residential energy efficiency and delivering social inclusion for low income households.

One of the beautiful things about eaga’s business model is that they offer a valuable service to residents who are often unable to afford building upgrades that save them energy and money, and improve the health of interior and exterior environments. The company does this by sourcing and administering grant funds that offset any need for building owners or tenants to foot the bill:

The majority of programs managed on behalf of our clients require the distribution of public grant funding to a particular target group within a specific time period to a specific quality standard. Financial reconciliation is a critical requirement throughout each project, with fully transparent reporting at various stages to fully account for funding we manage, as well as to outline the outputs of the project. We have extensive experience managing the ‘public purse’ and all our systems, processes and financial accounting are fully open and auditable.

Vancouver has become a city not necessarily known for large corporate headquarters with massive management structures, but for innovative clusters of smaller and mid sized offices doing unique things. Though eaga is an international company with its main office in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, we’re happy to welcome eaga Canada to Vancouver’s historic inner-city and believe they’ll fit right in among the other innovative green companies here in the DTES!

See you at Greendrinks and the Green Inner-City Cluster eaga!

And welcome to the neighbourhood.

However the reason you should go there now is, they kept the prices super reasonable and the food is very, very good.  Apparently the thing to order after work is their take on Poutine, which includes ribs or at least the meat from BarBQ ribs.  They have daily specials, even a lunch card if you know who to ask.  (Your server or the owner).  On Friday they had pitchers of Granville Island Lagaer that were just a shade over a 11 dollars and four dollar Jamison whiskeys.  Today I had the fish and chips, but Lani’s burger with aditional cheese and bacon looked better.

Their neon sign was getting installed today so they’ll be easier to find, but if your looking for a place for a “working lunch” or beers after work in the hood, why not give the On the Edge pub a try.  Tell them BOB sent you.

Bob who?

The Flack Block. Photo: Steven Ballegeer

In today’s post I interview Boris Mann of Bootup Labs. Housing several tech startups,  Bootup is an accelerator designed to help founders build their companies and products and take them to their first round of funding. They offer direct mentorship and support over an 8 month period directly helping creative ideas and fledgling companies take form.  Having relocated to the increasingly attractive Flack Block on Hastings, Bootup is a growing company themselves and could have relocated anywhere in the city but they chose Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Boris gives us some good reasons why.

BOBBlog: Your company is doing well, you’re growing, you could have chosen to relocate to Yaletown or another part of the city but you stayed in the DTES. What were some of the benefits of locating your offices in this part of the city?

B Mann: The vibe of the area was one of the biggest factors. Food, drink, art, diversity. The opening of the new W2. Cost was definitely a factor, as was the type of building / space we wanted. Part of Bootup Labs is to build a great atmosphere for culture to flourish in. Culture has trouble doing that in big corporate office spaces. We wanted bricks, open spaces, and quirky features like the old safe in my office.

Honestly, I just can’t see locating a web business anywhere else in the city. The concentration of companies in the area doing great things – Nitobi, Mozilla Messaging, and Joyent to name a few – just isn’t happening anywhere else in the city. And I didn’t even start mentioning the service oriented businesses like Work At Play, Giant Ant Media, and so on.

BOBBlog: Having been operating in the DTES for nearly half a decade have you seen improvements? What are some of the most noticeable changes in your opinion?

B Mann: Street traffic is now much more than just tourists along Water Street. There are lots of “locals” that live, work, and play in the area. No one has Yaletown envy any more (maybe the reverse is even true?)

BOBBlog: Favorite pub- favorite quick lunch bite- favorite coffee shop?

B Mann: This is hard, because there are many pub/lunch/coffee places that are springing up and doing excellent, new, innovative food and drink in our little corner of the city. The rate at which places are opening AND instantly excelling is dizzying. I’ll focus on food places for now.

Currently, I believe the Revel Room actually is serving the best burger in the entire city (with apologies to Moderne Burger). They are made from Pemberton Meadows natural beef and served pink. I also love the lunch at 2 Chefs and a Table. Oh wait – and La Taqueria is serving the best San Fran-style Mexican tacos in the city.

BOBBlog: Do you feel that this neighbourhood has the potential to be recognized as an area with a high tech/software and creative cluster?

BOBBlog: The neighbourhood won’t be recognized outside of Vancouver. Vancouver itself must grow up and be recognized as a whole. We *need* to point to universities westwards (UBC) and eastwards (SFU Burnaby Mountain), the Microsoft Dev Center in Richmond, the EA buildings in Burnaby, and so on. Once inside the city, early startups will gravitate towards the DTES as bar/coffee/tech culture grows.

We need more common gathering spaces. We need less expensive live/work spaces. We need coffee shops and other stores that stay open late / 24 hours. We need lots of wifi. We need more commercial ventures that aren’t high end fashion or tourist knick knack stores. We need to commit to building a cluster in the area that supports the “top of the funnel” of people starting ideas and companies in coffee shops, moving into their first shared space, their first private office space, and growing from there. Part of that growth will include moving to commercial office space

BOBBlog: From a business owners point of view what is the greatest challenge to this area of the city and what do you feel is the most important next step in improving the DTES?

B Mann: We can’t let the area gentrify too quickly. I see signs of this already. And perhaps by that phrase I mean “rents go up and everything gets gold plated so that beginning businesses start elsewhere”. Look at an area like The Mission in San Francisco – it has a certain edge to it, and that’s part of the reason that it retains its vibrancy: art, tech, food, residential and so on. I think diversity and co-existence are key – of both types of people and businesses.

BOB welcomes Bootup’s decision to stay in the DTES and wish them continued success. For more information on the vast array of services and products helping to make Vancouver’s historic inner-city a great place for businesses visit BOB’s Social Purchasing Directory.

For more information on Bootup.

For more information on BOB.