Partners
Causeway Work Centre has been in operation since 1977 in the Ottawa region and today employs 37 part-time and 9 full-time workers. Causeway transform lives and fuel community economic development in the Ottawa region through an integrated network of innovative training and employment programs, one-on-one support, cross-sector partnerships.
Causeway operates three socially minded businesses:
- Krackers Katering (since 1999, Ottawa’s longest running employment-based social enterprise)
- Good Nature Groundskeeping (since 2007)
- Cycle Salvation (since 2009)
Fresh Start Cleaning and Maintenance provides employment opportunities in (peer) support of persons who have a history of mental illness in Toronto, Ontario. In addition to employment opportunities, Fresh Start also offers job training and employment support, life skills training, and peer support services. Fresh Start employs approximately 100 individuals within a variety of cleaning and maintenance related services: commercial, apartment building, and residential janitorial cleaning, lawn care and snow removal, as well as extreme cleaning, hoarding clean-up, and extermination preparation services.
Goodwill Industries is a non-profit social enterprise that provides work opportunities, skills development and employee and family strengthening for individuals who seek meaningful and sustainable work with an emphasis on building and strengthening abilities of persons challenged by physical, mental, developmental, sensory, learning, addictions and other disabilities, and also the chronically unemployed, youth at risk, the aged, Aboriginal people and newcomers to Canada.
Goodwill believes that everyone should have access to employment, that most people can work, given the proper support and opportunity, and that communities work best when everyone is given an opportunity to work, no matter what barriers they may face. Goodwill operates a number of enterprise platforms such as donated goods, thrift retail, recycling, logistics, food and hospitality, commercial services and light manufacturing.
Impact Junk Solutions is a social enterprise of Canadian Mental Health Association Middlesex specializing in professional junk removal and cleaning services. The primary social purpose of the organization is to provide meaningful employment for people living with mental health disabilities who face significant barriers when participating in the labour market. Originally launched in 2012, Impact Junk Solutions provides their employees with the security of knowing they are applying to a permanent place of employment. Impact Junk currently employs approximately 25 individuals in the London, Ontario region.
Rainbow’s End Community Development Corporation is a registered charity that provide training and real work experience opportunities to its team-members in the Hamilton area. Established in 1997 as a training program for people living with mental illness, Rainbow’s End employs approximately 80 employees and operates 8 socially minded businesses.
The Voices, Opportunities & Choices Employment Club (VOCEC) exists to create jobs for people living with mental illness. To achieve its mission, VOCEC operates a series of small businesses. Current businesses include cafés, landscaping, a car wash, catering, a print shop, assembly/packaging, warehousing, distribution and cleaning. Together these ventures employ over 75 people living with mental illness.
Working for Change was established in 1994 and provides training and employment opportunities to people who have been marginalized by mental health/addictions challenges, poverty, homelessness, violence and refugee/newcomer issues. The organization operates 5 social enterprises.
