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Eva’s Initiatives http://www.evasinitiatives.com Eva's Initiatives works with homeless and at-risk youth ages 16 to 24 to get them off the streets permanently. They operate three shelters in the Greater Toronto Area that house 112 youth each night. The shelters provide homeless youth with emergency and transitional housing; harm reduction services to address drug and alcohol use; counselling, employment and training programs; and housing support and services to reconnect youth with their families. Each year they help over 2,300 homeless and at-risk youth to get off the street, find housing and community supports, and begin to rebuild their futures. One of Eva’s Initiatives is the Phoenix Print Shop. It is an environmentally responsible graphics communication training facility and a commercial print shop. It provides homeless and at-risk youth with the opportunity to learn the basic skills needed for long-term self-sufficiency in today's graphic communications industry, which has identified a critical need for hands-on training facilities and trained young people. Eva’s Phoenix Print Shop has entered into arrangements with a number of corporations who are supportive of its objectives. Xerox, for example, has hired graduates of the Print Shop, and T D Bank regularly uses the services of the Print Shop on a commercial basis. Chicago Metropolis 2020 http://www.chicagometropolis2020.org Chicago Metropolis 2020 is a business-based advocacy organization that promotes innovative solutions to long-term challenges facing the Chicago region. More than 100 Chicago-area companies have signed up to support an agenda related to affordable housing. Both business competitiveness and quality of life are threatened by the growing disparity between average wages and the cost of nearby housing. Chicago Metropolis 2020 investigated the extent of the “jobs-housing mismatch” in the region and quantified its impact on businesses, people and communities. Based on this analysis, it developed and advocated a 40-point Workforce Housing A ction Agenda aimed at helping the region meet the demand for attainable housing. The Agenda calls for local zoning reforms and increased emphasis on building code enforcement and property maintenance by local governments; increased state government assistance and rewards to communities that create a broad range of housing; expansion and improvement of federal programs to increase affordable housing options; and more corporate action to create workforce housing. A fter intensive lobbying by Metropolis 2020, the State of Illinois began an affordable-housing tax credit that matches the employers’ contributions to affordable housing dollar for dollar. This benefits low-income individuals by increasing the amount of affordable housing. It also benefits businesses because it creates housing that workers can afford that is much closer to the suburban locations w<strong>here</strong> many businesses operate, making it easier for them to attract and retain a stable workforce. Collaborating with Business for Social Transformation - 36 -
Greater Vancouver Hotel Association http://www.accc.ca/english/services/awards/accc/0405_recipients/program.htm Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (D TES) is widely known as the poorest postal code in Canada. From the perspective of the tourism industry, the numbers of youth living on the streets is perceived as having a damaging effect on the businesses, particularly in the hotel industry. A t the same time, the tourism industry in BC is suffering from a serious labour shortage that is likely to increase as the province gets closer to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver/Whistler. The large numbers of unemployed and homeless youth that have congregated in the D TES represent an untapped labour force that is largely being ignored. In response to a challenge from the Mayor of Vancouver, Larry Campbell, the Greater Vancouver Hotel Association (G V H A ) took the initiative to create a partnership that has had incredible success in meeting the mutual needs of business and the community – the Stars 4 Success program. Stars 4 Success is an innovative pilot project that blends job readiness training with exposure to the hospitality industry, and is able to train students for employment in entry-level, front of the house positions. The strength of the Stars 4 Success program is the focus on partnership, utilizing the core strengths of each sector. About twenty of the G V H A’s members signed on to the program. The G V H A partnered with Covenant House, a privately funded non-profit that provides shelter, food, clothing and counseling to youth-at-risk, as well as Vancouver Community College (V C C). Covenant House provides shelter and life-skills counseling to the youth, while V C C provides hospitality training. The federal government provides funding for an internship for each participant, while hotels that sign on to the program commit to providing a permanent employment opportunity in recognition of a successful internship. Twenty homeless youth went through the program in its first year. Two years later 100% of those youth remained off the streets. The initial trial year of the project in 2004 was so successful it fueled a desire to find a permanent home for the program. V C C lead the way and, in October 2004, opened a new hospitality training facility. In January 2005, 40 former street youth started their training and became full-time hospitality students. The Stars 4 Success program has won national awards for innovative programs, and jurisdictions across the country are interested in replicating the success of the program. Collaborating with Business for Social Transformation - 37 -
Page 1: Collaborating with Business For Soc
Page 6 and 7: Step 6: Make the Approach..........
Page 8 and 9: Executive Summary This resource has
Page 10 and 11: About this Resource This resource h
Page 12 and 13: What do we mean by collaboration? C
Page 14 and 15: Integrative relationships are chara
Page 16 and 17: Step 1: Determine Your Approach Whe
Page 18 and 19: Businesses can also assist in ident
Page 20 and 21: Step 3: Identify Specific Business
Page 22 and 23: Your collaboration may find it chal
Page 24 and 25: the National Home Insurance Partner
Page 26 and 27: Step 6: Make the Approach There are
Page 28 and 29: Customize your script towards the p
Page 30 and 31: Putting it All Together: A Final Ch
Page 32 and 33: Key Challenge Tips for Meeting The
Page 34 and 35: usiness include community local com
Page 36 and 37: Appendix A: Stories of Business Eng
Page 38 and 39: The Sky Dome Hotel in Toronto enter
Page 42 and 43: Business Community Anti-Poverty Ini
Page 44 and 45: Appendix B: Identifying Market Oppo
Page 46 and 47: intervention at the level of an ind
Page 48 and 49: Appendix C: Tips for Contacting Pot
Page 50 and 51: In the beginning. Begin a meeting b
Page 52 and 53: Has the value exchange and creation
Page 54 and 55: Appendix F: Endnotes 1 Shipler, Dav
Page 58: Tamarack thanks the City of Toronto

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