Nelson Cares Earth Matters Eco Store (Social Enterprise Profile)

Nelson Cares Society – ECO Store

Nelson – Environment and Employment for People with Barriers Social Enterprise

Stories:

• "Hello I'm Rhys. ... I love working for the ECO Store because I get training on the cash register and helping out. Being here means so much for me. I adore and love working for the Nelson CARES Society awesome people, great hospitality and wonderful companions. Working for them gives me such pleasure to work with fellow members and the staff. I thank them for everything they've done for me. I really appreciate all the efforts and wisdom, and the help they give to me. Thank you so much."

• "Hey, my name is Steph. ... The jobs I do are filling up the bottles, making grocery bags out of clothes, taking the recycling to the office at Nelson CARES and learning how to use the cashier. I like filling up the bottles and taking the recycling to the office. I would like to find a job when I'm done school."

• "I am Rosalyn and I work at the ECO store. I make the scrap book and take photos of products and people. Sometimes I do training on the cash register. ... Meeting new people is cool. Learning about different products is awesome and amazing."

The organization:

Formed in 1974 as the Nelson District Community Resource Society, the Nelson Cares Society provides a variety of community programs and services including supported housing and supported employment.

The social enterprise:

Earth Matters' ECO Store opened on December 5, 2009, in downtown Nelson, BC. The ECO Store is both an innovative retail training site for people experiencing barriers to employment and an exciting new hub for environmentally sustainable lifestyle products, information, and service. Major product lines include water coolers/filtration products, an all purpose cleaning product, and composting supplies.

enp history:

The Earth Matters ECO Store received $8000 in 2009 for a marketing plan, and then an additional $6,000 in early 2011 to further develop their marketing strategy. 

Click here for photos and a pdf version of this social enterprise story/snapshot.

Social Enterprise Stories, Snapshots and Videos

Enterprising Non-Profits is putting together a collection of videos and stories/snapshots featuring different social enterprises from around BC.  Above is the story/snapshot on Nelson Cares Earth Matters Eco Store.  To see stories/snapshots on other social enterprises in BC, click here.  (And to see our collection of social enterprise videos, click here).