Windsor's less fortunate can now receive training and work experience necessary to get them into the working world, at no cost.
Downtown Mission Executive Director Ron Dunn says their new Enterprise Program will take on classes of ten people and run for 40 days at a time.
It includes helping to run two businesses that will be housed in the Mission's new Wellness Centre on Ouellette Ave. The Do Good Deli (opening soon) will be culinary-focused, while Chari-tee's (launched this week) is a social enterprise, specializing in custom products of all kinds including posters, stickers and t-shirts.
Dunn says they'll be trying to tailor the learning experience based on what kind of barriers a class member might be facing.
"If you have a mental health issue, or maybe you've never worked, you know, you've been born into generational poverty," he explains. "We have to first get our folks to think of themselves as worthy of a program like this and psychologically, that can be the biggest barrier that they have to overcome."
The Enterprise Program is being made possible through a $75,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Dunn thinks this has the potential to significantly lower the number of homeless people in Windsor.
