New Toronto café hires people with lived experience of addiction, mental illness

Foreign our brand new cafe location for out of this world cafes and catering services this is our first real busy street front facing location we have two other locations that are amongst kmh grounds one at 100 Stoke Street and one of the college in Sabrina this one is 1051 Queen Street West and

As I say our first one really facing a busy street front so we’re in week two and really excited about the brand new space it is beautiful as you can see and it’s part of a really strong partnership with kmh it’s a paninis and sandwiches kind of Cafe come

In for some warm lovely melted gorgeous food we also have a hot special every day from 11 to 2 p.m which can range from jerk chicken rice and beans to chicken adobo today we’ve got some beef lasagna with the garden salad on there and every day something something different something special but our

Social purpose and our social Enterprise with out of this world is to employ and provide stable and supportive employment for people who identify as survivors of mental health addiction homelessness gendered violence Refugee or newcomer issues and various forms of trauma people who may often face barriers to employment in the regular

Workforce we try and do our best to provide as I say stable and supportive employment and everybody within the organization both at the umbrella charity working for Change and at each of our Out of This World locations identify as survivors of various forms of trauma why do you think it’s so

Important to provide a space where people who face employment barriers have the chance to work like a front-facing job like this one of the things if you ask people directly and we have and you know surveys have and kmh has and when people are asked directly people who

Have living or lived experience with mental health challenges or having suffered you know through some pretty hefty traumas and trying to recover from them when asked directly what is most important to them a resounding response is valuable employment you know valued employment a place to come that gets

Them out of the house and provides it and we in particular also aim to provide not just a place of work not just a place to come and complete some tasks and earn some money but a place of social connection that combats the isolation that so many people experience when they’re just

Living at home on social supports and have very little access or opportunity to engage in the water Society because of stigmas because of barriers that they may face in the regular Workforce where some challenges that they face may not be understood you know so breaking people out of that isolation and

Providing a social space for them to come to helps provide a boom to the mental health and their recovery Journey has for mine in the past you know and alongside of which providing a stable income helps begin to lift people out of poverty that social supports often keep

People along if we’re here to go I have to go is that what the C okay okay no worries and what does it mean to you personally to have a job like this and then also to work for a place that’s so supportive of people with lived experience I myself

Have been through my own mental health challenges in my past and it means everything to me to be able to facilitate a type of environment where people who are recovering from you know their own mental health struggles can flourish and find community and also employment

And you know there can be a lot of barriers to employment when you’ve been through any number of things that our staff have been through and I think it’s very important for us to have businesses that are looking out for them you know it’s it’s important it it’s just a part

Of my value system that if if I want to be a part of something an organization a business or anything that we’re focusing on we’re focusing on the community it’s a community centered organization which is what I love about working here so is the hope that by providing the space

That you’re speaking so openly about this that people will feel comfortable and safe having conversations like this here one of the things that we aim to have as an organization is is a an informal support network so a lot of our employees have suffered similar traumas or been through similar Journeys that

Are recovering from similar things and so they can find a place where they have those shared experiences and and find support in that shared experience um Beyond which you know us providing a safe space for our employees to talk about it amongst ourselves you know we

Also wish to example that there’s a huge amount of value in people who have lived experience or living experience and are living with you know concurring disorders or ongoing challenges or whatever it might be that they are able to come and perform the duties of a regular workplace and

Produce great food and wonderful coffee in the same capacity as you know you might find at any other Cafe across the village so what are your hopes for the future of working for change I hope that we can grow and become a stronger name within the non-profit sector and social

Enterprise sector of the city of Toronto you know as I mentioned before this is our first kind of real Street front facing space space and through this we hope to kind of become known and start to open new in other spaces in other parts of the city

A new coffee shop in Toronto is serving up sandwiches and breaking down barriers for people with addiction and mental health challenges. Working for Change is a charitable organization that operates Out of This World Cafés in partnership with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. CBC’s Talia Ricci visited their newest spot on Queen Street West.

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