Neighborhood Mini-Group (NMG) Structure for Social Enterprise Incubation in Toronto

Kazi Abdur RoufVisiting Scholar

Leadership, Higher Education and Adult EducationOISE, University of Toronto

and

Noble Institution for Environmental Peace Canada.

Paper presented at the Association for Nonprofit Social Economy Research (ANSER) Conference 2013

University of VictoriaJune 5-7, 2013

Concept• Neighbourhood Mini-Group (NMG) is a mini-group networking program for low

income neighbours in Toronto

• Easy to form groups within neighborhoods informally

Objectives of the Neighbourhood Mini-Group Program (NMGP)

•To organize and facilitate neighbourhood networking and form groups among low income people to develop collection behaviour and increase solidarity among group members

•Continue to interact with group members to develop their self-esteem and collective esteem

•To assist members to find alternative solutions for their social and economic problems

•Connect members with local income generating projects, credit unions and other economic resources

Objectives-2

• To develop entrepreneurial skills, financial discipline and leaderships among members

• To share information and exchange their thoughts and experiences and to develop negotiating power among group members

• To engage in social businesses

• Exposure to different ways of incomes and

• To mobilize them to initiate and run community social , environmental and economic programs in order to reduce their poverty

Importance of Neighborhoods Mini-Groups

• Low income immigrants, single mothers and senior citizens have less interaction and collaborations with their neighbours

• Second generation loss connections with their neighbours

• Reducing collectivistic behaviours

• Suffering from isolation, a monotonous life and frustration

• In Ontario “O’ dollars invest for promoting cooperatives

Advantages• To free people from isolation and a monotonous life

• To help group members develop partnerships among them to solve their problems

• To think of to involve in income generating activities and engage in innovative social business projects

• Joint business/co-operatives generally have twice the survival rate of other private business

• Credit unions prefer lending to collective businesses

• To free them from poverty.

Survival rates of Co-operative businesses vs private companies

Survival rate of business after….

5 years 10 years Long term

All cooperatives

64% 46% 30%

Private sector companies (Statistics Canada-2008

36% 20% N/A

NMGP Services

• Organize open-house sessions, create dialogue among group members to discuss benefits of networking, engage in social economy and social enterprises

• Discuss existing types of Canadian clubs/cooperatives• Facilitate forming neighbourhood mini-groups • Record and monitor group members activities• Facilitate members’ involvements in income generating activities,

recycling businesses and many other social businesses • Encourage graduated members (after one year) to engage in

sustainable social businesses

NMGP Services: continued-2

Organize and conduct trainings/workshops on• Mini-group management• Moral education• Financial literacy • Managing social enterprises and small business • Green development• Citizen engagement and • Conflict resolution.

Connect and refer group members to • Public resources • Income generating business and financial literacy counseling services • Social enterprise funds and community economic services.

Cooperative gap widens in Canada• Although credit unions are increasing ; however, cooperatives

development trend is decreasing in Canada For example, in Saskatchewan Numbers of co-ops decreasing 15% in 2000-2005Membership -10% (2000- 2005)Assets -59%Revenue -62%In Ontario : Cooperatives among low income : No statistics, no recordIn Quebec : Cooperative growth rate is increasing (+152%, 1985-2005)Source: (Diamantopoulos, 2011)

After 2005 • Cooperative development is more decreasing in Canada• Farmers numbers are decreasing 20% in 2005-2010 in Canada (Source: (Carlton University, 2012)

• 223 firms (1% of co-ops enterprises) Source: U of Wisconsin 2009.

Strategy: Start with informal memberships

• NMGP is facilitating group formation and connecting group members to local resources, and record members activities in the community

• Get experience to continue memberships with neighbors, develop skills of accountability , respectfulness and trust each other

• Avoid administrative burden of registering with Coop Acts

• Develop social capital and collectivity norms

• Gain experiences and develop leadership skills

• Financial agenda after compact entrepreneurship development

Structure of the NMGs

• Three-five neighbours (prefer same sex, and same class) on a block informally form a neighbourhood mini-group

• Block Centre (BC): a minimum of four mini groups from in a county

• Neighbourhood Mini-group Cluster Centre (NMGC): Three County Centers make one NMGC

• Cluster Worker (CW): CW is a primary service provider to organise, facilitate and serve the group members

Operation Areas• 1st year, NMGP works in St. Clair-Runnymede-Jane-Lawrence- Keele

neighbourhoods in Toronto

Plan• 2nd year expand to Etobicoke South Lakeshore, Etobicoke North and

Regent Park in Toronto

• 3rd year expand to Scarborough South, Cox Well, Scarborough Middle, Scarborough West and Melbourne area in Toronto

• 4th year across Greater Toronto (GTA)

Pot Herbs Production Project-a pilot initiative

PHPP initiated in collaboration with Noble Institution for Environmental Peace (NIEP) Toronto It is a program for •Intergenerational Pot Herbs Production demonstration learning program – St. Clair-Runnymede- Jane-Keel- Lawrence-neighborhoods areas in Toronto

•The program is for herbs fresh organic food production, intake and income generation among low income people

• The project has trained 15 seniors and three adults from the area

Open House Sessions, Workshops and Materials for the Project• The first step of the project is to organize St. Clair-Runnymede-Jane-Lawrence Keel

neighborhood families through

• Five open house meetings

• Two workshops at Jane Street Hub, and St. David Church

• Open house sessions and workshops start in April 2013

• Provided training on Herbs production know how, sources to collect herb boxes, soil, herb seedlings

• Advise herb growers to recycle these materials every year

• Organize herb harvesting and cooking events at harvesting time in July-October

• Preserve of pots, herbs, roots and seeds for recycle use next year.

Herbs producing by people

Herbs producing • Mint• Caraway, Coriander• Lemon balm, Lemon Verbena • Oregano• Sweet basil, Rosemary • Sage, Parsley, and Spearmint.

Program in Place• NMG members linked with Herbs production project in collaboration with

• Jane Street Hub, Unison and TCHC community gardens in Toronto through my individual initiative

• Formed 5 groups in St. Clair- Runnymede-Jane- Lawrence two neighbourhoods in Toronto

• Mobilised 25 people to engaged in Planters Box Herbs production • One garden spot in a TCHC community garden • Distributed Planters Boxes and herbs seedlings to 10 individuals • Continue to form groups and distribute herbs pots to community people.

Challenges• No other community agencies and private agencies involved in pot herbs production in

this area

• This green social enterprise relays on some startup grants and donations to support the project activities and to promote ecological education to people

• No grand available for this project this year

• If heavy rain falls, insects could jeopardize the bumper herbs production that is challenge for the project

• Producers’ intensive care and integrated pest management (IPM) practice could reduce/prevent such challenges.

Challenges contunue-2 • The Neighbourhood mini-group collaboration concept is different from the

traditional cooperative principles

• NMG members reluctant to try the program without seeing an upfront economic benefit

• Toronto is an advanced, industrialised and individualistic society; it would be hard to develop cooperative values among people

• To get financing for the group members’ projects.

Conclusion

• The herbs permaculture project is a transformative learning sustainability project in food sector for intergenerational family members in Toronto

• The project is creating opportunities to permaculture transformative learning experiences through pot herbs production

• The project designs to collect half of the produced herbs from the growers to recover its materials and costs supplied by the project

• The project endeavor is to make the project as a model of revenue generating green social enterprise in Toronto.

Thank you

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