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Sharing SEontario Stories – A Social Enterprise Webinar Series

Learn About a Range of Social Enterprise Models

Wondering what social enterprise really looks like? What it takes to succeed? What impacts social enterprises can have? Join us this November for our social enterprise webinar series, with insights into the worlds of six social enterprises operating in Ontario, and learn what it could mean for your work to start, grow and support social enterprises in our province.

Webinars:

Developing Multiple Enterprises – an Effective Growth Strategy | Nov. 13

12pm to 1pm Eastern Time
Presenters: Caroline Arcand of Groupe Convex and Doug Dowhos of St. Joseph’s Care Group
The enterprise types developed by these two organizations range from cafes to recycling, woodshops to casual labour and so much more. Creating multiple enterprises is a proven strategy to scale up the impacts of social enterprises in communities. Hear the stories of how it was accomplished, why this strategy was selected and why each chose the unique model it has.
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September and October SEonFAQ

What is Social Enterprise and who can call themselves a Social Entrepreneur? There are many different interpretations of what a social enterprise is, and how people within the community define it and themselves. During the month of September the SEontario Question of the Month was about precisely that, “How do you define Social Enterprise? How do people in Social Enterprise define themselves?”. The question was posed by twitter user @rons1212.

If you’re interested in submitting your own question of the month, it’s easy and quick to do. (more…)

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A glimpse into the world of pre-loved furniture: A spotlight on Furniture Bank

This week’s Spotlight on Social Enterprise, by the Social Purchasing Project, shines the light on Furniture Bank. Furniture Bank is a registered charity and social enterprise in the Greater Toronto Area.

Truck within a circle that says Spotlight on Social Etnerprise. The truck has the writing Furniture Bank Furniture Pick Up Service on its side with Arrange a pick up below.

They’ve been helping people establish their homes since 1998. Their mission is to transfer gently used and pre-loved furniture and household goods donated to them by individuals or corporations to people in need of a fresh start. They have thrown a wrench in the current furniture lifecycle by helping individuals and families establish new homes and diverting these materials from landfills. Since 1998, they have helped divert over 9,400 metric tonnes of waste which, in their own words, is the weight of approximately 1,887 elephants!

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Community Bonds: Invest in new CSI location

The Centre for Social Innovation [CSI] is looking to expand, and to give social innovation a new home in downtown Toronto. CSI is a social enterprise with three locations in Toronto and a location in New York City. They’re a coworking space, community, and a launchpad for people who are changing the world. CSI seeks to turn the challenges that society is facing currently, economically, socially, culturally, and environmentally, into opportunities to improve communities and the planet through innovation.

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Spotlight on Social Enterprise: Kitigan

A new, cutting edge Aboriginal e-Commerce website www.kitigan.com provides authentic, original, high quality Aboriginal art, gifts and crafts at competitive prices and is designed to support Aboriginal artisans, particularly those with low-income, to develop a portfolio and reach a global market.

Products include: original birch bark, wood and canvas paintings, stone and antler carvings, Iroquois pottery and raised beadwork, ash and birch bark baskets, corn husk dolls, feather boxes, hand-carved paddles, quilts and star blankets, tamarack art, flutes, quill boxes and quill barrettes, gold, silver, wampum and turquoise jewelry and apparel including moccasins, mitts, gauntlets, hats, ribbon shirts, vests, dresses, and purses.
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Impact Junk Solutions featured in Metro News

An excerpt from the Metro news article London alliance wants to reduce mental health stigma, one step at a time:

“[…] The event at the Lamplighter Inn in south London brought together agencies, researchers, students and people with experience of mental illness to swap ideas, stories and resources.

Among the tales told was that is Impact Junk Solutions, a social enterprise run by the Canadian Mental Health Association Middlesex. It has 32 employees, paid at a competitive rate, and it receives no government money. Of the 32 workers, 21 are in London.

It collects unwanted items from homes, businesses and construction sites, and provides cleaning services. All the items are diverted from landfill, with 70 per cent recycled and the rest donated to other organizations.”

Read the full article here.

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Spotlight on Social Enterprise: TurnAround Couriers

TurnAround Couriers is a fast growing Same Day courier business in Toronto and the GTA which is primarily focussed on providing fast delivery and excellent customer service. They are the third largest bicycle courier firm in Toronto and are unique because of their social mission. They also offer car and van service across the GTA.

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Social Purchasing Project: Spotlight on Social Enterprise

The Social Purchasing Project (SPP), an organization that helps the public and private sectors connect with services and goods offered by Social Enterprises, in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area. SPP has started a bi-weekly spotlight on social enterprises. We will be sharing excerpts from these bi weekly spotlights here, in our news section, and they will be available in full through the Social Purchasing Project’s facebook and their mailing list. To have your Social Enterprise be in the spotlight, contact Alexandra Mutinelli-Djukic at adjukic@lefca.org, and don’t forget to submit your SE story here, and get on the SE map.

The first SE in the spotlight is: Options Mississauga Print and Office Services, Social Enterprise serving Port Credit and beyond since 1993.

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SEontario is on YouTube

What is Social Enterprise? Organizations and individuals have been weighing in on this very question for not just this month, though it is our question of the month, but since the dawn of the term Social Enterprise. That isn’t the only terminology that may require more explanation. Ideas such as buying social, or social procurement are also new for many of us.

On our YouTube channel we have collected, and continue to collect, videos explaining Social Enterprise, and the terms that are often associated with it. Not only that, but our playlists also include videos about Ontario based Social Enterprises.

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Is your social enterprise just a dot on a map?

Do you want a more complete online profile so that others can find out about you more easily. If so just complete this survey

SEontario.org is Ontario’s newest social enterprise community. Currently more than 1,000 social enterprises (SEs) are geomapped on the site, https://seontario.org/semap/. Interesting as this is, people in the sector tell us they want more information to be able to connect and learn about each other and to have others learn about them. CCEDNet-Ontario is collaborating with partners to develop a categorized and fully searchable online directory of Ontario social enterprises.

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