{"id":6801,"date":"2013-04-19T07:59:41","date_gmt":"2013-04-19T07:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/?p=6801"},"modified":"2013-04-19T12:50:16","modified_gmt":"2013-04-19T12:50:16","slug":"homeless-youth-beading-for-a-better-tomorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/?p=6801","title":{"rendered":"Homeless youth, beading for a better tomorrow"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his green collared shirt and dress pants, Michael Tremblay doesn\u2019t look like someone who will be leaving work only to spend another night at the Ottawa Mission shelter. His co-worker James, who asked that his last name not be disclosed, says he\u2019s still in his \u201ccouch-surfing stage.\u201d For these two, the fight against homelessness began two years ago.<\/p>\n

Tremblay, now 22, first arrived to the capital city by hitchhiking from his home in Nova Scotia. There were simply too many demons at home, he explained. \u201cEvery day there was family drama, family issue,\u201d he says. \u201cI had to remove myself from that scene.\u201d After a month with the Occupy Ottawa movement, Tremblay eventually found himself without work for two months. \u201cI basically McGuyvered it and went on nothing,\u201d he says, laughing. Each day was a new challenge, he explains. He had to make do with whatever he had on hand.<\/p>\n

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Now employed at Operation Come Home\u2019s BeadWorks workshop, Michael Tremblay, 22, arrived here two years ago on his own.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

For 28-year-old James, severe depression and anxiety left him without work, pushing him into financial turmoil. The street life exposed him to a world of \u201clong-time drug and alcohol addicts,\u201d and he was appalled. \u201cI needed food; I needed a safe place to be because at a lot of the places downtown, and with the street services, you come across bad people and things,\u201d he says. \u201cI just didn\u2019t want to be around that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then James and Tremblay discovered Operation Come Home (OCH), an Ottawa-based support centre for homeless or at-risk youth. The organization offers multiple employment programs and support services for \u201cstreet youth.\u201d Among these is BeadWorks, a workshop where homeless youth design and create one-of-a-kind jewellery. The pieces are then sold at Re:Purpose, the OCH storefront at 150 Gloucester Street.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne day, I just set foot in here and didn\u2019t know what the hell I was doing,\u201d Tremblay recalls his first visit to BeadWorks. \u201cI just sat my ass down and tried to make whatever I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, James frequented OCH for their many services and stumbled upon BeadWorks. Through the program, he uncovered his talent for beading and jewellery making. Now his jewellery and t-shirt designs are displayed at Re:Purpose. For each sale, the individual youth receives 75 per cent, and the remaining 25 per cent goes towards Re:Purpose and the BeadWorks program.<\/p>\n

Helping the homeless<\/span><\/p>\n

OCH receives much sponsorship and support from the City of Ottawa and various companies throughout the city, such as United Way Ottawa, says OCH executive director Elspeth McKay. The OCH Board of Directors comprises distinguished members of the Ottawa community, from the Ottawa Police Services to small business owners. With this assistance, OCH is able to provide other hands-on programs, McKay explains, such as FarmWorks, where youth can learn about farming and agriculture. They also offer literary courses, like Finance Matters, to provide lessons about debt, savings and budgeting.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Located at 150 Gloucester Street, Operation Come Home hosts multiple employment and educational programs for street youth.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the OCH\u2019s Re:Purpose store, there are products from BeadWorks and other businesses with mandates for a social cause. Items include fruit jams made by disabled youth, or handcrafted cards with a focus on environmental awareness. McKay hopes to soon display work from young artists, including a focus on using recycled material.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis way we have what I call a triple or quadruple bottom line,\u201d she says. \u201cThere is this eco-friendly emphasis, and the fact you\u2019re employing at-risk or homeless youth when you buy products from them. Then there\u2019s the fact they have an opportunity to be creative in a safe environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Re:Purpose, Tremblay and James serve as staff members, working four days per week for minimum wage. The cash they receive mainly goes towards clothing and food, Tremblay says, though he admits it also helps him pay for his cigarettes.<\/p>\n

McKay says BeadWorks\u2019s focus isn\u2019t just about providing opportunities for cash. Instead, the program gives the youth some relief from the harsh world of homelessness. \u201cI think it gets them thinking of other things rather than where they\u2019re gong to sleep at night or how they\u2019re going to cope with the fact they don\u2019t have enough clothing. These are things we take for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet challenges persist, McKay explains. The main challenge for Re:Purpose, and for many social enterprises, is finding a business model that is profitable and continues to address social issues. That\u2019s where new volunteer Manjit Basi comes in.<\/p>\n

Once the owner of the Ottawa cosmetics store The Body Shop, Basi is no stranger to successful social enterprises. The Body Shop, she explains, boasted an extremely successful business structure, while remaining true to its eco-friendly mandate. With her experience, she hopes to teach the Re:Purpose youth more about the retail world, such as how to create an inviting sales environment or market a product or publicize a good story.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jewellery on offer at Re:Purpose. Every dollar that customers spend at Re:Purpose guarantees 75 cents for homeless youth.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, Basi needs to ensure that Re:Purpose stocks quality products that are relevant to customers. \u201cAt the end of the day, if they don\u2019t want to buy, you\u2019re not going to make any money, no matter how good the cause is,\u201d she says. \u201cA good story with a [bad] product isn\u2019t going do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking to the future<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a great start that Re:Purpose now showcases young, local talent, including BeadWorks\u2019s youth, Basi says. There are more sales happening, and the storefront is heading in the right direction, she adds. For long-term growth, she hopes she can teach the young people more about pricing, and encourage them to follow retail trends. \u201cSo far, the youth are so engaged,\u201d Basi says with utmost enthusiasm. \u201cI think they\u2019re so smart, so talented and hungry for knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is especially true for James. With the experience of Beadworks under his belt, he hopes to find his way into a college to study fashion design and launch a career.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Tremblay will be adding his work to his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and hoping to reunite with family in Montreal and find stable employment. This desire to regain the right path is one shared among all street youth, he says, despite any drug or alcohol addictions or personal problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to move on and find our own way,\u201d Tremblay says. \u201cThis place has helped in more ways than I can understand.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can jewellery making help keep at-risk kids off the streets? Ottawa\u2019s Operation Come Home offers homeless youth a fresh start, through beading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6801"}],"version-history":[{"count":88,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8239,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6801\/revisions\/8239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}