Some Commonly Asked Questions and Definitions
What is a Social Purpose Enterprise?
A Social Purpose Enterprise is a type of community economic development initiative—specifically, it is a business established to respond to the employment or economic needs of a particular community, usually a community that is disadvantaged in some way. For example, in Toronto, a group of Somali women operate a sewing enterprise, a youth group runs a restaurant, and consumer/survivors in Parkdale manage Green Thumb Enterprises. In Newfoundland, small communities have come together to create businesses to respond to the need for employment after the demise of the fishing industry. All of these examples are different forms of social purpose enterprises.
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What is Community Economic Development?
Community economic development (CED) is a “process” that responds to the economic needs of a particular community. It may involve a number of initiatives and activities that are related to social and community development in addition to the economic focus. Inherent in the CED approach is an acknowledgement that certain groups of people are marginalized by the current economic system. CED creates economic alternatives for such groups.
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What is different about an Alternative Business?
An Alternative Business is a type of social purpose enterprise that has been created through a community economic development process and is operated entirely by consumer/survivor employees. While operating on business principles, Alternative Businesses offer support to staff and recognize the struggles that consumer/survivors face, particularly in accessing and maintaining employment.
Employees may have flexible work schedules and accommodations to sustain their employment are made available. Jobs are permanent; they are not placements or “sheltered workshop” programs and salaries are market rate. Training, mentoring, skills development, and peer support are emphasized and employees participate in decisions that affect the business. Words that are used in describing an Alternative Business include “comfort, ownership, pride, teamwork, safety, responsibility and respect”.
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Why the term consumer/survivor?
A consumer/survivor is self-defined: someone who has been institutionalized by the psychiatric system or treated by mental health staff in the community—a consumer of services or a survivor of the medical/mental health system. Some consumer/survivors continue to use the mental health system while others seek alternatives to the traditional medical model. A fundamental principle in the consumer/survivor movement is respect for individual choice.
Many consumer/survivors have been institutionalized, spending years in and out of hospital, talking to professionals who are paid to speak to them about their mental health status. As a result, they may lose hope for an independent future. Often consumer/survivors do not have their own communities. It is through working that people develop a community, increase their independence, confidence and self-esteem. As one woman said, “what we really need is a roof, a job, and a friend”.
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Why Consumer/Survivor Controlled Businesses?
In vocational rehabilitation programs, people usually earn less than the minimum wage or apprentice for long periods in unpaid training programs, yet these programs still do not provide the participants with a real work experience. Other employment initiatives that target people with disabilities may place individual consumer/survivors in a work environment where other people know the person has been labeled as “mentally ill”. This can also contribute to an uncomfortable and disempowering work-setting.
In contrast businesses managed and staffed by consumer/survivors offer a very different work environment, one that is developed and managed with peers. People who have ownership have self-respect. “It makes you stronger and more confident; the group creates a synergy. People are willing to take risks and feel proud.”
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Fighting Prejudice – Pat Capponi
It is imperative that professionals and paraprofessionals working in the mental health system begin, in the process of sensitizing themselves to the consumer community, to apply the same standards of non-racist, non-prejudicial assumptions, actions and speech as they would to any other minority. Professionals must become acutely aware (until this awareness becomes integral to patterns of behaviour) of tone, language, type of humour, and the degree to which the past injury has damaged and prevented the growth of trust. (Gerstein Sensitization Package, 1990)
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