In December we co-hosted a fabulous holiday open house with Tradeworks Training Society. With over 70 guests attending from the agencies and businesses we work with, it was a smashing success! Here are a few highlights:

Dafna Ohana of the Job Shop put together some beautiful party platters. She used to work in catering and you can tell! Just one of her many talents.

Friends new and old attended the event. At left is Gabe Mo-Williams, the latest addition to the BOB family. His proud parents James and Ada are in the centre, flanked by former BOB CEO Shirley Chan on the left and Maureen Collier of BOB & Tradeworks on the right. Gabe was happy to meet everyone but found the party rather tiresome.

It was great to see so many people mingling and enjoying the spirit of the season.

Rob Holland and Seann Dory from Solefood Urban Farm came to the soiree. Rob kindly shared his story for the crowd, telling us how meaningful it is for him to continue working on the farm and how he got started there with help from the BOB Businesslinks urban farmer training program.

Heather Sinclair, formerly of the Job Shop, recently moved to IAM CARES Society. Here she is with Louise Hibbs of IAM CARES Society and Danielle Kottmeier, formerly of IAM CARES and now one of our own here at BOB!

The gang from Open Door were very cheerful and festive! They really enjoyed the choice dim sum we brought in from local restaurant Jade Dynasty.

Irwin Oostindie from W2 Media Cafe took time out between events to join us. Here he is with our very own Liz Charyna.

Liz presented Barb Mount from Impark with an award for the leadership they have shown in partnering with BOB to create a culture of diversity hiring. In the last year they have hired 11 individuals through us for everything from CSR to data entry. Their commitment to working with BOB has  improved the lives of many while also creating positive change in the culture of their call center. Trimpac-Sysco also received an award for hiring local residents, and we honoured Tradeworks Training Society and the Salvation Army Belkin House for their commitment to partnering with BOB and other agencies to create meaningful change in people’s lives.

The whole BOB team – Emily, Andrew, Liz, Danielle and Lani – still cheerful at the end of a long night!

January 2012

Celebrating Our Community Partners

In December we held our annual holiday open house in cooperation with Tradeworks. It was a delightful and well-attended event—the perfect place to celebrate our community partners!  We honoured employers Impark and Trimpac-Sysco for their outstanding commitment to hiring local inner-city residents and working with BOB to support them. We also recognized two fellow agencies—Tradeworks Training Society and the Salvation Army Belkin House—for their outstanding contribution to the lives of local residents and the spirit of communication and cooperation they show in partnering with BOB to improve the lives of their clients and members.

Impark

Impark has continued to be a leading partner in diversity hiring. Thanks to Barb, Van and Leah, they have hired 11 individuals for various positions from CSR to data entry. Their commitment to working with BOB has not only improved the lives of many but it has also created a positive change in the culture of their call center.

Trimpac-Sysco

Trimpac has been a steady partner and have hired 7 DTES residents over the last year. Operations Manager Jonathan Burke has shown a strong dedication to working with BOB to fill positions in his warehouse. In addition they have continued to support their staff positively with the help of our supported employment team.

Tradeworks Training Society

Many of our clients are referred directly to us through the great folks at Pathways and the Job Shop, both of which are outstanding programs of Tradeworks Training Society.

Arleen Dauncey from Tradeworks Women’s Workshop & Ross Gentleman, Executive Director of Tradeworks Training Society

Salvation Army Belkin House

BOB would like to recognize Belkin House for their great work in the community providing housing and transitional assistance to those who need it.  We appreciate their partnership and referrals to BOB’s program.  Thanks to Stephen Bell, Rebecca Bell and Eva Galvez from Belkin House who were present to accept the certificate.

New Job Postings

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

Intakes for the Cycleback Bicycle Repair Program are ongoing.

Impark: Customer Service Rep (part-time)

Events

SHINE Supper, January 23rd

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

From all of us here at BOB…Happy New Year!

The BOB team get all sorts of opportunities to work with amazing businesses, social enterprises and other non-profit groups active in the DTES and inner-city. One of those organizations is Tradeworks Training Society. Tradeworks Training Society,  helps foster sustainable independence by providing job-related skills training, counseling, and work opportunities. During the construction of the Olympic Athletes Village in SE False Creek, BOB really go to see Tradeworks in action, as they were teamed up with RONA to create and facilitate the Fab (Fabrication) Shop. Over 100 local residents were professionally apprenticed in carpentry and other skills in the Fab Shop and then placed on the Athlete’s Village construction site as part of the city’s first major Community Benefits Agreement.

The Olympic Village is now internationally renowned and has been awarded LEED Platinum Certification for the entire neighborhood as well as LEED Gold status for all of the buildings included.

And while construction of the 2010 Olympic Athlete’s Village is finished, with the exception of some retrofitting work that will begin soon, Tradeworks remains busy with plenty of other great projects too.

“Tradeworks Custom Products“ provides training & entry-level employment to women in the Downtown Eastside, Strathcona and adjacent neighborhoods.

The Job Shop is another innovative program that Tradeworks supports. Since 2001 The Job Shop has worked with over 600 people to support them in getting back to work.

Pathways provides access to information and knowledge resources for individuals and organizations in the Downtown Eastside. Pathways has worked closely with the BOB SEP team who have enjoyed an excellent working relationship with them.

Tradeworks Women’s Workshop pre-employment program introduces inner-city women to the world of carpentry and registered trades. The program develops essential workplace skills and attempts to get women registered and progressing in a trade of their choice.

Tradeworks Training Society has been offering training and employment programs in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver since 1994. Each program is centered in the belief that mutual respect is key to any relationship, and that a hand up is more lasting than a hand out.

The team at Building Opportunities are thankful to have the opportunity to work with Tradeworks. Check out their site for the great products they offer and numerous opportunities for residents.

This post was originally published on the Greening the Inner-City Blog.

Over the recent years many thinkers and planners have foreseen the likely transformations of our urban and suburban communities as costs related to resources, building materials and other logistics force us to think on our feet and adjust. I recall one author even wrote a book titled “The End of Suburbia”. Actually it was a documentary now that I come to think of it. As potential challenges such as peak oil, loss of arable land, energy and water scarcity and other logistical (and social) hurdles continue to present themselves on our horizon, authors like James Howard Kunstler, Jeremy Rifkin,  and numerous scholars agree that we may need to rethink our systems and our approaches and reassess much of our infrastructure and planning as we look ahead. Vancouver has been recognized as one of the more progressive and community focused cities in North America but even we may see some major physical transformations should these challenges come to a headwaters in the next 50 years. Though I do write with the focus of BOB in mind, I’m also a geographer, so I’m inspired to look at these issues very much from the perspective of a geographer.

In the case of Vancouver our physical geography and some astute urban planning has already helped to create a clean density that we’re celebrated and noted for now, and if we continue to go dense out of necessity or desire we will likely need to maximize urban spaces. Enter the deconstruction industry and the restoration economy.

A great little video on Treehugger.com about a social enterprise in Bristol UK was sent to me from Brian here at Building Opportunities with Business (who got it from Toby Barazzuol at Eclipse Awards). The Bristol Recycling Project collects donations of unused lumber, and either finds a way to put it back into the market or reconstitutes them into products like shelving and furniture. This is a service that has developed in relationship with the deconstruction industry and the restoration economy. The restoration economy is an idea put forth by author Storm Cunningham in a 2002 book entitled (you guessed it) The Restoration Economy. Along with William McDonough’s book Cradle to Cradle, it was considered a landmark environmental book at the beginning of this decade. In short, or rather to summarize but a brief aspect of it, think of it like this. Instead of blowing up a building into a million fragments and trucking them off to the landfill, we can slowly deconstruct it and utilize as much of the materials as possible in other developments. It’s like my father-in-law (an incredibly accomplished engineer who has worked on numerous high profile projects around the world) always says, “The most sustainable building is the one already built”. Well, the logic of the restorative economy says the next best thing may be recycling all those materials as best as possible into a new format. Plus it creates jobs and stimulates the economy.

Reclaimed wood has been utilized by social enterprises and businesses in BC and specifically in the inner-city Tradeworks Training Society uses reclaimed wood for many of their products. But much of this reclaimed wood is from Pine Beetle infested lumber considered below market standard due to its blueish tint. Conversely, much of the wood used by the Bristol Wood Recycling Project comes from buildings that have been recently deconstructed or found lumber, and as other cities around the world begin to rethink their urban design many structures may need to come down in order for more efficient designs to go up. Buildings will also need improvements, retrofits and other maintenance, like our beautiful heritage buildings here in Vancouver. There’s little doubt that a large market potential for the restorative industry exists in Vancouver. As recent improvements along the Hastings Corridor (a result of the Great Beginnings and Hastings Renaissance Program) attest, we Vancouverites value the historical architecture of the inner-city. Many of these old buildings need a little love and elbow grease as time does take its toll, but they shine up real good.

But where is Vancouver’s inner-city in regards to a similar project like the one in Bristol? Well, it has been discussed, and there are still people in the community who believe a similar deconstruction social enterprise might be successful here. We do have a proud history as an enterprising lumber town after all.

Is it a matter of timing though?

As construction of high density buildings becomes more expensive, eating into the bottom line of those projects, and as space becomes less available in our city perhaps reclaimed materials from deconstruction will present an affordable and accessible option for developers? And that in turn may likely create more demand for deconstruction and restorative work, more space to develop, and perhaps contribute to more affordable housing prices? Someone would probably have to write a thesis as opposed to a blog post to really answer some of those questions. But this is a place for ideas and conversation after all.

It’s some food for thought as we look to the future of this city and our inner-city’s urban design. By looking at the Bristol Wood Recycling Project and other similar enterprises we can perhaps better imagine the choices that may present themselves to us down the road.

-Wes-

A recent article in the Vancouver Sun by Miro Cernetig criticized the DTES Connect pavilion at Woodward’s for being contrived and dumbed down. A glossy and slick, politically machinated “homeless pavilion” and a PR exercise is what the article summed it up as, stressing how the efforts of all three levels of government have been too little too late in the case of the DTES. This appeared to be the first shot in what has become a heated discourse over the DTES Connect pavilion.

The Olympic Games have been a source of protest and debate from the minute our bid became known and as we inch closer to the opening ceremonies the most bombastic fireworks might not be above English Bay or False Creek, they may very well be in the media. BOB is featured quite prominently in the pavilion along with other non-profits that have been active in the Downtown Eastside, and we’re glad that our story has been included there, but we also empathize with those who stress more needs to be done. Governments will always be struggling to keep up with the sweeping and unpredictable forces of economics, technology and culture. In this era of globalization the external pressures placed on a city such as Vancouver by cultural, technological and economic change (or say…by an international sporting event) creates an incredibly complex internal dynamic between all those affected for better or worse. Rising costs of living, increased development, city competitiveness, and the struggle to define space and place creates constant tension in our dynamic urban environment with or without major events. Those who are pushed to the edges by powerful and complex forces need champions to fight for them. There needs to be protest, demonstrations, activism, debate, but at the same time we may benefit from being mindful of the accomplishments of residents, non-profits, businesses and government in the challenging task at hand. Taking a moment to reflect on the work of non-profits in a complex and challenging situation…is it entirely fair to call this whitewashing?

It’s important that we’re able to move away from the singular view of the DTES as a neglected and tragic PR nightmare and a place where only bad things happen. There is also a vibrant community at work here. No matter how glossy the photos may look at DTES Connect there is no glossing over the challenges within this part of the city. Mayor Robertson himself testified to this, as did the other speakers who appeared at Woodward’s to officially open the pavilion on Monday, including Liz Evans whose Portland Hotel society has been doing invaluable work in the DTES for years. Some may have confused the medium for the message, because it sounded clear to me that the City and its partners have chosen to be very open, frank and mature about the complex realities of poverty, homelessness and urban renewal.

This part of the city is far more than just a “social failure” and trying to tell both sides of the story is far more than a public relations exercise.  Many Vancouverites who live and work in the DTES as well as business owners and institutions keen to invest and relocate here also feel that Vancouver’s inner-city, despite the many challenges, has an exciting present and incredible potential.

While nobody denies that there are many challenges left to overcome, we’ve come a long way. Yes we do need more social housing, we do need continued support for residents, business, and social enterprise, we need living wages and affordable family supports but not because things are getting worse. It’s because these things are helping.  Not because government isn’t doing enough, but because when government does do something it helps a lot. Woodward’s is an example of that.

Dealers and drug users still collect in clusters on the corners and in the alleys but many longtime residents have overcome challenges and are now working at busy new stores like Nester’s Food Floor and London Drugs, in the same Woodward’s Building that now houses Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts. 34 “hard to employ” DTES residents in total have been employed at these three locations, 15 of them at SFU alone. Over 300 DTES residents were trained and over 120 have recieved work in construction thanks to the city’s first major community benefits agreement, an important starting point for future CBAs to build on. Social enterprise like the SOLEfood inner city farm, Tradeworks Training Society and Common Thread Sewing Co-operative offer training, income and employment opportunities for Downtown Eastside residents while innovative co-working spaces at W2 Social Media House and here at Building Opportunities with Business (BOB) offer affordable monthly rates for mobile workers in need of bandwidth and secure space. Exciting new restaurants Bao Bei and Campagnolo have opened their doors in locations that a few years ago would’ve been unthinkable while organizations like Blade Runners, Union Gospel Mission, BOB, New Chapter 2, United We Can, Mission Possible and others have all worked hard to train, support and find employment for residents eager to work and make a difference in their lives and in their community. To paint the neighborhood in one colour as “Vancouver’s largest social failure” is a slight to all those who have overcome addiction, who have opened businesses, who have found work, and through their preserverence improved this historic part of our city. Taking a moment to reflect on the work of residents, non-profits and governments struggling to keep up with strong forces of change may help us to better understand how we can work together to improve our communities, discounting it as pure whitewash denies us that moment to reflect and think critically about the numerous parties, powers and people involved in our communities.

I congratulate DTES Connect on its official opening and all those who devote their time and energy to our inner city and its residents. As the fireworks fly, I hope they shed light on the full spectrum of characters and complexities within the inner-city and inspire government, non-profits and community activists to question how we can improve upon all our past and present efforts as we move forward.