Historians believe that humans have been adorning themselves with jewellery for at least the last 75,000 years. I’m willing to bet you are taking part in this long history by wearing at least one piece of jewellery right now. But are you wearing a piece of jewellery that helps prevent homeless youth from becoming homeless adults? If you can’t answer yes to that question, you need to check out the designs produced by Beadworks in Ottawa.
Established in 2008, Beadworks is a social enterprise employment program created by Operation Come Home. Youth (aged 16-30) who are clients of Operation Come Home can participate in the program by crafting beaded and assembled jewellery in the Beadworks Studio. Participants are able to sell their products at a Beadworks event, and the revenue is split evenly between the artist and Beadworks. Learning opportunities in the areas of designing, costing, marketing, crafting, display and sales are also available. Youth who take part in these educational opportunities are able to keep all of the profits gained by selling their products. To date over 100 male and female youth have participated in Beadworks, and all of their work has been photographed so a portfolio can be produced if they wish to continue working in this area.
To find out more about Beadworks, check out their website and follow their parent organization’s updates on Twitter via @ochottawa.
Ps. If you have a favourite Canadian social enterprise to share with us, we’d love to hear from you in the comments section!