Environmental Health and Equity: Global Strategies and Innovation April 30, 2011 McGill University

1. Building Social Equity and Fighting Unemployment through a Program of Community Recycling and Urban Sustainability: Lessons from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside • Mitra Thompson • How does a local NGO work with community partners to bring jobs, social inclusion and self-confidence to a highly marginalized inner-city populationwith multiple barriers to employment? Environmental Health and Equity:Global Strategies and Innovation April 30, 2011 McGill University

2. The Downtown Eastside • 67% of private households arelow-income, vs. 27% citywide. • 22% unemployment, vs. 8% citywide. • 54% of population live alone, vs. 17% citywide. • 75% of homeless do not receive welfare. • 47 drug overdose deaths in 2005, down from 191 deaths in 1998. • Deinstitutionalization of BC psychiatric patients in 1990s = large mental health population in DTES. • High proportion of women turn to sex work to supplement income. • Social/health services are biggest industry in DTES, but most do not hire local residents.Sources: 2005/06 Downtown Eastside Community Monitoring Report, Riches and Graves , “Let Them Eat Starch.” The Tyee, 28 August 2007.

3. United We Can Mission Statement: “Through self-sustaining urban enterprises, United We Can creates community, income and job training for people in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.” • Founded in 1995 • Largest employer in DTES • 7 socialenterprise projects • Employs 150 people • Low-barrier work • Jobs promote recycling, urban sustainability • Wages paid daily in cash • $20 mil. in annual income to local residents

4. Methodology Data Collection • 43 semi-structured, open-ended interviews • Observational evidence of UWC programs and daily life in the DTES • Review of academic and institutional literature Location • The Downtown Eastside neighbourhood of Vancouver, BC. United We Can has operated here since 1995, population 16,500.

5. A new employee sorts beverage containers brought in by the more than 700 binners who pass through United We Can’s bottle depot every day. Image: Building Opportunities with Business

6. Bottle Depot • Payment: Full refund value of beverage containers brought to the depot--a steady source of income. • Staff: Sort and pack containers for delivery to a recycling plant. • Tasks: Match abilities--something for everyone. • Recycling: ≈ 20 million containers saved from the landfill each year. • Jobs: ≈ 50 local residents.

7. Lanes Cleaning Project • Fee-for-service enterprise. • Staff work in crews of 4 to“micro-clean” streets and alleywayswithin a 40-block radius ofUWC. • Removes used syringes, condoms and other hazardous waste on DTES streets. • Complements cleaning services provided by the City, which do not include micro-cleaning. • Outdoor, independent work is suited to people with mental health, anger management issues. • Provides jobs for ≈ 75 people. Image: United We Can

8. Urban Binning Unit • Employees collect bulk orders of beverage containers from local customers (restaurants, schools, offices) in carts specially designed for United We Can. • Containers are then processed for recycling at the bottle depot. • UBU carts are quieter than shopping carts, promote idea of professionalism instead of poverty. • Builds trust and contact between DTES residents and local business owners. • Challenge: UBU carts are expensive to buy and maintain. Project remains small, subsidized by grants and income from bottle depot. • Jobs for 3-4 people.

9. SOLEfood Urban Farm • Sells organic herbs and vegetables to farmers’ markets, restaurants and local residents. • Built on disused SRO hotel parking lot: greening the inner city. • First United We Can project to use specialized training: transferable skills for staff. • Plans for more SOLEfood sites around the DTES, creating more jobs. • Long-term plan to address urgent DTES food security issues. • Hired 12 local people in 2010 (first year of operation).

10. Economic Impact • Jobs are suited to the abilities of people hired, many of whom cannot find work elsewhere. • Division of labour provides tasks to suit different employee strengths, abilities, temperaments. • Managerial commitment to flexibility, tolerance of regular absences. • Low-barrier approach to job-creation provides informal but legal way for residents to supplement their income. • Income stability reduces effects of poverty, not poverty itself. “This is the first time in 15 years that I’ve been employed, that I’ve had a regular paycheck, and that I’ve been more than hand-to-mouth. I went out the other day and spent $90 on a pair of shoes. And it’s been maybe 20 years sinceI had the money to do that.” -Bottle depot employee, United We Can

11. Sustainable Urban Development • Green job-creation mandate lets United We Can develop social enterprises dedicated to improving the local environment. • As new jobs have been created, the scope of each social enterprise has grown, as has its capacity for cleaning up the DTES environment. • Sustainability managerand coordinator roles ensure management incorporates new ways to make project as environmentally friendly as possible within their allocated budget. Image: United We Can

12. Financial Independence • Most of United We Can’s social enterprise projects are not financially sustainable as independent businesses. • As a non-profit, extra income from more successful projects (the Bottle Depot) is diverted to smaller ones, to keep them running as sources of employment. • SOLEfood: Big start-up costs are 100% grant-funded. High-risk, but big long-term potential. “[The founder of United We Can] has been able to appeal to the intelligence and the interests of people beyond his organization to help them bring funds, time, energy to support United We Can. He’s done so in a very polite and respectful way, and I think that is in some cases different from other leaders of the social agencies who come from more of a social activist background. They’re there because they want to help, but they’re almost strident and vigilant in the way that they go about things, which can rub a lot of people the wrong way.”-Director of Development, Vancity Credit Union

13. Social Impact • Many employees say their self-confidence has grown from working at United We Can. • Working alongside other people with similar barriers and health issues helps reinforce their own sense self-confidence and capability. • Employees take pride in earning a wage, not receiving charity. • Interaction at work reduces social exclusion for people who have not worked for several years and often live alone. • Good relations with community stakeholders builds trust and provides opportunities for UWC employees, e.g. participating in 2010 Olympics clean-up. • Providing work and cleaning the streets helps make DTES more attractive to business investment.

14. Voices from United We Can “I’d been a heroin junkie for about 15 years. I ripped off a hell of a lot of people, did a hell of a lot of bad things. And it kind of makes me feel like I’m giving back, a little bit, through the job.” –Bottle depot employee, United We Can “When you’re living the way I did for the majority of my life, most employers [will] empathize or have some compassion for your plight, but they need people who are gonna be there and regular and that sort of thing. And that was always a constant pressure. And here, if things go south a little bit or a lot, the job’s here, they’re really supportive, it’s part of what they do. And that takes a lot of pressure off me, which is good.” -SOLEfood Urban Farm employee, United We Can “I’d say I talk more now. I used to be very quiet, I never used to speak up. But since I’ve been here I’ve been more assertive. ‘Cause before it was just that people would step all over me. Totally, just step on me, so I wouldn’t say a word. Now I speak up. I’ve learned how to do that here, thanks to the people, you know. They’re very supportive. I like that part.”-Bottle depot employee, United We Can “This is perfect for me. ‘Cause it allows me to feel like I’m doing my little bit to keep the world green, right. And in a very small way, I am.” -Lanes Cleaning Project employee, United We Can