Employment agency breaking barriers for marginalized people on Vancouver Island
A temp agency on Vancouver Island is taking a compassionate crack at the labour shortage.
Spoonies Employment Agency is dedicated to finding safe workplaces for marginalized people, including those with disabilities and 2SLGBTQ+ and racialized communities.
“As a queer person, it’s very important to be in a job that makes you feel validated and makes you feel like you can just be yourself,” Spoonies employee Em Granley told CTV News.
Granley used to work in construction, where she said she was occasionally subjected to cutting comments on worksites. She got a gig through Spoonies in October, working at a Camosun College cafe.
“I don’t have to pretend to be somebody else. I don’t have to fake anything,” Granley said. “I can just be me.”
The agency vets every employer. Its founder has navigated accessibility barriers and championed mental health breaks for some team members.
“We’ve had people come to us from very, I hate to say it, but, toxic industries where they were treated badly and now they are thriving,” said Veronica Greer, who founded Spoonies in June.
Often, employers are happy to make accommodations based on someone’s abilities, Greer said.
“They just wouldn’t know how to do so without the help,” she added.
Granley’s employer has worked with five other Spoonies employees.
“We want to show them that the [food service] industry is for everybody,” said Greg Brown, Camosun College’s food service director for Aramark.
“If we’re not taking care of our people, we don’t have a business.”
Brown credits Aramark’s contract with Spoonies for helping keep Camosun’s food facilities afloat.
“We’re able to open all six of our outlets every single day to full capacity and create a really welcoming, happy environment that people have a good time working at,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.
Amish youth experience a rite of passage called Rumspringa. It’s not what you might think
The idea of “Rumspringa” has a specific spot in the American imagination. A rite of passage for young people in some Amish communities, Rumspringa is seen by most outsiders as a wild time away from strict Amish rules, when teenagers can experiment with the modern vices of the world.
Djokovic needs medical attention after getting knocked on the head by a water bottle at Italian Open
Novak Djokovic needed medical attention after apparently getting knocked on the head by a water bottle after a win at the Italian Open on Friday.