“Why don’t homeless people just get jobs?”
This was a question the folks at Boyle Street Community Services had heard too often. That's why they decided to create hiregood, the social enterprise used to tackle the challenge of poverty alleviation using a business approach.
People experiencing homelessness and poverty face a number of barriers to accessing the formal job market; a lack of job experience, mental health challenges, addiction challenges, the stigma surrounding homelessness, or the simple fact that someone might not have the appropriate attire to attend a job interview.
Boyle Street Community Services (an inner-city charity organization) has been serving people experiencing homelessness and poverty in Edmonton since 1971. Wholly-owned and operated by Boyle Street Community Services, hiregood was born out of the need to provide inner-city clients with opportunities for meaningful employment.
At hiregood, we hire individuals who are experiencing homelessness and poverty. Our employees, or taskers, are a highly-capable, diverse group of driven individuals who are excited to have meaningful work, purposeful employment, and to earn a living wage. Every team of taskers is guided on-site by an experienced mentor who will be there to ensure that the task is completed properly, safely, and promptly.
So how does a social enterprise work? The money that hiregood makes gets reinvested back into our business and our community, which allows us to support our environment, our clients, and our taskers.
When you hire through hiregood, you’re doing good with your to-do list and helping to break cycles of poverty in Edmonton.
