The healing power of plants — and a job
‘A home, a job, a friend’: a lesson in the value of social enterprise
As I strolled into the boardroom, I had no idea the person across from me had been living with serious challenges for many years. Mental illness is like that.
Outwardly, there are often no signs of the struggles yet the symptoms are often clear enough: homelessness, joblessness, and, sometimes an inability to get up in the morning or to face another human being. Social enterprise: I had been asked to join a meeting of professional gardeners. These people tend plants for a living. And while most had been seen as unemployable, they now work in a business born in the world of social enterprise.
By definition, a company that employs marginalized people and is supported by a not-for-profit funding partner, like the United Way, is a social enterprise. As I learned more about the concept, I offered the benefit of my business experience to the United Way and they asked me to meet with Parkdale Green Thumb Enterprises (PGTE), a landscape maintenance company.
Maggie Griffin has been responsible for running PGTE and while she has the usual challenges of managing a business, she’s also hiring a staff of people who are at risk of homelessness, have struggled with poverty, addiction issues and/or mental illness.
The Toronto Enterprise Fund (TEF) annual report reads, “TEF funds enterprises that connect people facing employment barriers with job training and work opportunities. Since its inception in 2000, TEF has funded 45 social enterprises, which have collectively employed and/or trained over 2, 500 people.” Parkdale Green Thumb: I like Parkdale Green Thumb because social enterprise makes sense. Says Maggie, “What people really want is a home, a job and a friend.
“Second, Parkdale Green Thumb hires people who then experience the miracle of the healing power of plants while getting paid. ”
Today, the company specializes in the installation and maintenance of plantings in business improvement areas around the west-centre core of the city. They do not own a truck or car and last year they spent slightly more than $6,000 on TTC fares to get their people around to various jobs. Knowing how much it costs to run a car for a year, this sounds like a good investment.
Should you be sitting on a streetcar someday when a couple of people wander onto the car with hedge shears and a watering can in hand, you just might be witness to the Green Thumb work in progress.
Maggie explains: “Our enterprise grew out of Parkdale community members and Working for Change staff meeting and brainstorming. In 2001, we applied for startup funding. In 2002, we were in business.
“Over the past 13 years, we have expanded our work and now provide streetscaping, exterior planting and maintenance services for a variety of BIA’s, community groups and institutions.”
One of their customers is the Direct Energy Centre at Exhibition Place. “Maggie and her team are a pleasure to work with and I can assure you that they have made a huge difference to the overall health and appearance of our indoor plant inventory in the Direct Energy Centre.”
Social enterprise, I have learned, is about creating opportunities for people who have experienced barriers entering the work world. The benefits extend way beyond those of earning a paycheque.
I was invited, originally, to share my experience and “expertise.” Meeting them made me realize now how much I have to learn. Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, author and broadcaster. Get his free monthly newsletter at markcullen.com. Email him at groundskeeper@markcullen.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkCullen4 and Facebook.