Canadian Olympic soccer player, Amy Vermeulen wearing a sports bag made by Common Thread (photo courtesy of Common Thread)

In Vancouver’s inner-city a unique cooperative called Common Thread weaves together opportunities for residents. Comprised of five organizations with sewing programs, this cooperative social enterprise takes sourced materials (donated or recycled) and repurposes them into tote bags, backpacks, and other products. Common Thread began in 2007 when these groups came together in order to seek higher volume contracts than any one of them could accommodate alone. It sustains each individual partner group within it by coordinating a flexible manufacturing process with a more reliable stream of work.

The cooperative was recently chosen as one of a handful of community based enterprises and charities to receive 2010 Winter Olympic Banners donated by the City.

The 800 banners, which were donated to Common Thread via its member organization The Kettle Friendship Society, will be used in an innovative collaboration with Mills Basics to produce a limited edition line of notebook covers with customized notebooks. Mills is a family owned Vancouver company that has provided office support and products such as printing, furniture and supplies to business since 1947. The company supports environmentally and socially responsible business practices and will be donating the profits from the sale of these special notebooks to H.A.V.E a culinary social enterprise in the DTES.

This isn’t the first time Common Thread have received Olympic Banners either. Building Opportunities with Business has been working with Common Thread since May 2009 to help connect the group with high volume sewing contracts like the City’s Great Beginnings Program. As part of this, Common Thread produced 1,500 children’s backpacks from the City’s pre-Olympic/Paralympic banners in a project called Sew A Legacy. The backpacks were filled with school supplies (many donated by Mills Basics) and distributed by the City to inner-city schools. Having coordinated production among more than 20 local sewers from organizations such as the Kettle Friendship Society, the Aboriginal Mother Centre, Coast Mental Health and the Afghan Women’s Sewing and Craft Co-op, Shirley Chan, CEO of BOB, attests to Common Thread’s ability to bridge organizations and bring benefits to the community. “Common Thread is an excellent example of the community capacity building power of social enterprises. Bringing together the resources, cooperation and support of government, community groups and non-profits, their work directly helps residents by creating jobs that contribute to a social and environmental purpose. BOB is pleased to support their work.”

Social enterprises are businesses that are driven by a social or environmental causes. They have become increasingly common engines of job creation and community support in urban and rural areas, and particularly in Vancouver’s inner-city. Common thread is an excellent example and one whose profile is growing. The special edition notebooks made from the Olympic/Paralympic Banners are scheduled to be ready by mid-August and can be purchased through Mills Basics.

For more information about common thread or to place an order contact Melanie Conn

Common Thread
626 Slocan St.
Vancouver, BC
V5K 3X7
Tel: 604-736-0935

Web: http://www.commonthreadcoop.ca
Email: info@commonthreadcoop.ca

Over the course of one day in May of 2010, BOB held a community consultation in which residents, various representatives from government, governance bodies, community agencies and business leaders offered their input concerning the future role of BOB. Through a series of workshops discerning both the value of BOB and the potential areas in which BOB was perceived as being most useful the following was decided:

BOB was delighted with the community’s input, enthusiasm and encouragement at the May 12^th community consultation.  After further review with staff and the Board, BOB has determined its most valued role within the community is to remain a connector/convener for business opportunities within the inner city.

To this end, and complementing the activities of other inner city organizations, this means the following:

1. BOB will continue to support the connection of businesses to the inner city.
2. BOB will continue to support the connection of all levels of government to the inner city.
3. BOB will continue to maintain employment support programs.

We also heard from the consultation that it is not in the community’s best interest for BOB to initiate a social enterprise.  The rationale being that such a social enterprise would compete with existing services within the community and potentially undermine the role of BOB as a connector in the community.   It is not BOB’s intention to compete with other inner city organizations, but instead to complement and connect.

As mentioned in the consultation session, BOB faces many of the same funding challenges of other inner city organizations.   We have decided to pursue our activities on a transaction basis – fee for service, consulting and/or retainer.

In fulfilling BOB’s role in the community, we will increase community membership on the BOB Board by 3 members.  In addition, to further improve BOB’s role as a business connector, we will increase board membership with business representation by another 2 additional members.  We will make the additions gradually to facilitate adjustment and proper orientation with the organization.

Finally and most importantly, BOB will continue to support and encourage businesses that have shown a history of positive environmental, social or cultural sustainability.   BOB believes that positive economic development in the inner city is best developed by organizations that support principles of sustainability.

We think it is important to conduct additional community consultations to further refine this strategic direction.   These additional consultations will be conducted on a regular basis throughout the year.

We welcome your continued input.

-This response to the findings of the community consultation held in May 2010 is available as a PDF on the BOB Website.

Hastings Racecourse has offered BOB and our sister charitable organization Fast Track to Employment, the opportunity to put on a great FUNdraiser on June 6th!

Get ready to win ridiculously amazing prizes in our raffle.  Enjoy a 3 course meal.  And all in a lovely Marquee Tent beside the track with crazy racing horses speeding by.

We have celebrity judges who will eye up your beautiful hats  (think Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison is ‘My Fair Lady’) with a delicious prize going to the winner.   Not a hat person?  No problem!  The event is perfectly enjoyable without one.  We will have a few hat making supplies available.  Remember..  Bring extra moola or cheques for buying raffle tickets.  You’ll have multiple opportunities to to win door and raffle prizes from great places such as:

• Fairmont Pacific Rim
• 4 Seasons Hotel Vancouver
• John Fluevog
• Blue Olive Photography
• Silks Restaurant
• SFU Woodwards Theatre
• London Drugs
• Nester’s Food Floor at Woodwards
• JJ Bean
• Calabash Bistro
• Out To Lunch Catering
• and more!

You can help the team at BOB and FTE continue doing what we are passionate about- working with local residents and businesses to see positive change happen in Vancouver’s inner city and Downtown Eastside- by joining us on this fun day.

Tickets are selling for $60 and can be purchased by dropping by the BOB office at 163 East Pender on weekdays between 10am and 4pm or purchase them online at https://tickets.firehallartscentre.ca/TheatreManager/1/online

We look forward to seeing you there!

At BOB, our employment team sends out a newsletter once a month to share the successes on the job, profile employers who are hiring locally and advertise current job opportunities and training.

Enjoy seeing what the employment team at BOB has been up to!

SEP Newsletter – May 2010

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.