Human Resources committee  Most of our people are paid employees. It takes pretty specific people to work with people with mental health issues and people coming out of homelessness. A lot of people are afraid to work in that area, but we do have some very qualified volunteers. We have 18 in our current co

Human Resources committee  No, we have to wait until we know that the funding is through. That's a huge barrier for us. If there was something like three-year or five-year funding in succession it would really work well. We have to wait, so then they're on contract. All our employees are registered social

Human Resources committee  Ms. St-Denis, thank you so much for your comment. To me it is vital that we have open communication with different organizations that are doing the same. As I said before, you cannot be an island; you have to be a group and work together to address the issues. I would very much b

Human Resources committee  Yes, I'd like to speak to that. With us, they have had 160 hours of hands-on training in warehousing, so when our clients go into these positions, they're already trained. It hasn't been book learning; it's been actual hands-on training. Therefore the three months' subsidy from

Human Resources committee  The opportunities fund pays for such things as workboots, vests, the equipment, the books that are needed. The other funding goes for our staff. We do need staff to run this program. It also goes for educational...and bringing in other agencies to speak and do the teaching. Bus p

Human Resources committee  It doesn't connect with housing, although we do work with a committee and a program that does house people, but it has nothing to do with housing whatsoever. It is to give them the skills so they can maintain and supply their own housing.

Human Resources committee  For the first three months there is funding from the opportunities fund for that. After that we encourage the employers to pay the same wage they pay every other warehouse worker, because we do not believe there should be discrimination in these matters.

Human Resources committee  We speak to them and tell them this is part of the contract, that they get the first three months paid and then after that it is regular wages. We do not believe they should be on a lower wage level because they have had issues with their past.

Human Resources committee  First, I'd like to address the issue of the employers. This is a very difficult area. All of our clients have some type of criminal record because of coming out of homelessness and also because of mental health issues. I'd like to give you an example because I don't think we get

Human Resources committee  Yes, our main funding for this program is the opportunities fund and HPS, the homelessness fund. Yes, I do.

Human Resources committee  Thank you. First of all, I want to say it's an absolute honour to be here today. It's very unnerving also, so please bear with me. The moving forward program started out of the Community Kitchen Program of Calgary. When the federal government allotted us money to build a buildi