“Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.”
- Bill Drayton, CEO, chair and founder of Ashoka
Although the process of generating income to advance social causes has been in existence for some time, the social enterprise model has been identified as a movement to more self sustaining forms of social programming. The social enterprise model is a venture that allows non profits to advance their social mission through entrepreneurial, earned income strategies. The earned income venture typically incorporates the social mission by providing employment and training for the target population. The YWCA chose Carolyn’s House Vocational Culinary Arts Program, funded by the John R. Oishei Foundation, as an ideal program to launch their first social enterprise initiative – “The Catering Crew”. The Carolyn’s House Catering Crew initiative provides both valuable services to a population in need, and a potential method of sustainability for an organization. The social enterprise model uses market based strategies to provide training, create jobs and increase opportunities for people facing employment barriers.
The success of the YWCA of Niagara’s social enterprise “The Catering Crew” has been replicated in two additional social enterprises, The Niagara Falls Airport Café and the Niagara Falls City Hall Café. The YWCA will continue to pursue a variety of “cottage industries” to provide training, skill building and living wage opportunities for the residents of their transitional housing programs. The YWCA of Niagara recently received the National Award for Self Sufficiency Programs from the YWCA of the USA. See article
