United Community Services Co-op

It’s just about 5pm (yikes, it’s after 5pm!) and the day is almost over for the week and for another Passion for Work Week campaign. I was going to do my “Hello, my name is Justin, and I work at the Co-op” a few days ago. I was/am keen to finally get into the whole blogging thing. But like things go, the days just seemed to run away from me. So I’m struggling to get a posting in right before we close our doors for the week.

So, let me get the first bit out of the way first. “Hello!” My name is Justin and I’m the Manager of Business and Membership Development here at the United Community Services Co-op. It’s a rather long title, but it means I do a bit of everything here.

I have a whole blog post conceptualized about my favourite mug here at the office, but I don’t have enough time to flesh it out for my first post. So it will have to be my second post. So for my first post, I wanted to echo something that was said during our Passion for Work Week potluck we had today at lunch (see the photo in our Flickr Gallery). When we went around the table with our colleagues and office mates at Family Services of Greater Vancouver, there was a sense about how important it is to be together. We all do very different things (either within Family Services or here at the Co-op) and sometimes it can feel kind of isolating. But by coming together over tasty food to share stories about why we are working in the non-profit sector, we’ve realized the family and bond we’ve developed together. So no matter what our work is, we are not alone.

In this location of Family Services, a lot of services are provided around addictions. And some of the underlying issues with addictions have to do with isolation and feelings of being alone with heavy burdens of responsibility or of life. I hadn’t thought about how much isolation can easily creep into your life and in your work. So I do feel blessed to be reminded of it today, but also reminded of the great “work family” I have here at the Co-op and my “extended work family” at Family Services. Okay, enough of the gushing! The weekend is here…

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Passion for Work Week has now begun and we would love for you to share your stories and experiences. We welcome any format, from answering a similar Q & A to those found below, to sharing a particular experience which has inspired your passion. Please add the stories that you would like to share below as a comment, or send the content to us and we will add a new post.

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As many of you may know, the Co-op’s offices are located in a branch of Family Services of Greater Vancouver, thus we have all joined efforts to celebrate Passion for Work Week together.

This year we are going to put up a Passion Wall in our shared space. Staff from both organizations will put up stories, images and anything else creative that they can think of that contributes to their passion for work. At the end of the week we have will have a potluck where staff can come together, eat and celebrate, while sharing stories about everything that has been put up on the wall.

How have you decided how to share your passion for work? Add a comment below for us and others to see!

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Intro

For my third and final interview, I spoke with Katherine Barr, who works for The Bridge Youth and Family Services in Kelowna. As Katherine works in a different kind of role compared to the previous interviews, it was a great chance to see another part of non-profits and to hear about her passion for work.

Please enjoy this short Q&A!

Tell us about what you do.

I am the Manager of Finance and Support Services at The Bridge Youth and Family Services. My role includes both financial work and supervision of the Support Services team. I do not have a typical day, as what I do depends on the time of month or the time of year – I could be completing the financial statements, or attending management meetings. Right now it is budget time so I am spending all my available time on that, and in general I spend a lot of time in meetings.

I have been with this organization for two and a half years, but bring many more years of experience in the financial sector. Before this position I did not work in the non-profit sector, but saw it from the other side working with non-profits as an auditor or on boards, rather than as an employee.

How did your interest in this kind of work begin?

When I was going to change jobs, I intentionally sought out a job working with a non-profit organization. I knew I could provide financial expertise that many organizations don’t get the opportunity to have access to and it was an opportunity for me to give something back.

If you could describe your passion and enthusiasm for your work as an image or symbol, what would it be and why?

To me it is more of a feeling – a feeling of satisfaction.

Describe the moment when it dawned on you that you were working in the right field/the right place/the right job?

When I knew that I had succeeded in providing what the organization needed; when I hear the enthusiasm of the Executive Director and Coordinators that I have given them the information that they need and also done so in a timely manner. I get constant feedback on what it is that I have brought to the organization.

The Bridge Youth and Family Services is a long time owner-member of the Co-op and the Executive Director, Dennis Dandeneau, serves on the Co-op’s Board of Directors.

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If you have not already started to think about how you will celebrate Passion for Work Week 2010, there is still time! Passion for Work Week is next week, March 22-26^th and we are encouraging staff members at nonprofits to reflect on what makes them passionate about their work.

To help inspire your workplace, download this poster and put it around the office. You can also look below at previous posts  for more information about Passion for Work Week – including a post with suggestions on how to celebrate.

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My second interview for Passion for Work Week was with Nicole Lew from Community Integration. Nicole was at work and chatting with me over the phone, as I could hear bustle in the back ground. As someone new to this field, it was great to talk to Nicole to hear about her passions at Community Integration.

I hope you enjoy this second Q&A

Tell us about what you do.

I am a Life Skills Worker. We work to support people with developmental disabilities – teaching life skills such as exercising and the importance of being healthy. We also help people find jobs and supervise them at work if needed. In general, we are trying to get them to be as independent as possible.

I have been working here for 6 months now, so I am pretty new. This is my first job in this field but I have previously volunteered in the non-profit sector.

How did your interest in this kind of work begin?

I have always been interested in working with people. I recently received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. In general, I find helping people achieve their goals gratifying.

If you could describe your passion and enthusiasm for your work as an image or symbol, what would it be and why?

What I think of is a smile – because all that matters is that you’re happy with yourself and what you’re doing.

Describe the moment when it dawned on you that you were working in the right field/the right place/the right job?

There are many moments, like when you have a successful day with someone. This could when they learn something new, and you feel really good about what you are doing. We set goals with our clients, so when they reach a goal it feels great.

The clients themselves are very inspiring. Before you work with people with developmental disabilities you may think of them differently, but when you get to know someone you see the depth of their personality. If you don’t know about a particular group of people, the best way to learn about them is to get to know someone from that group. I find that when you do that, you realize that there are more similarities among us than differences between us.

Thank you Nicole!

Community Integration is another member of the Co-op and they are active participants in many of the Co-op’s events and workshops.

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I recently spoke with Evelin Antonio, a Case Manager from Family Services of Greater Vancouver, and we had a very energized interview.  In our chat, it quickly became evident to me the great passion, enthusiasm and perspective which Evelin has about the work she does and the world in which we live. Evelin is originally from El Salvador, but has been living and working in Canada for almost two decades, as a front line social worker.

Enjoy this short Q&A!

Tell us about what you do.

I am a Case Manager in the Community Assistance Program, but that title does not clearly reflect my role. I do case management but also the planning and organizing of Life Skills workshops for the women who are in the program. Based on the needs of the clients, these workshops teach women about topics including communication, anger management, and self-esteem. In addition to that I also work one on one with the clients and as an advocate to connect them to the resources in the community that they need but have trouble accessing. I have been working at Family Services for almost 2 years now and as a social worker for 16 years.

How did your interest in this kind of work begin?

My interest began from seeing so much injustice in the world, and believing all humans should have fair access to resources. I chose social work as the avenue because social workers are “agents of change”, and rather than solely working with theory I can actually practice this work. Additionally, the beauty of social work is the ability to work in different areas within the field, for example one-on-one with clients, or alternatively within community development.

If you could describe your passion and enthusiasm for your work as an image or symbol, what would it be and why?

I don’t really know, but I think that I would describe a utopia, where humans are living in harmony with fair access to resources.

Describe the moment when it dawned on you that you were working in the right field/the right place/the right job?

I have these moments all the time. There is no one moment because as a social worker I am constantly faced with difficult issues and systems which are not addressing them, and so I work to facilitate processes.  As an example, in my current job I get excited all the time when a woman gains access to resources or says that the program she is in makes her more confident and that something good is actually happening in her life.

Thank you Evelin

Family Services of Greater Vancouver is a founding owner-member of the UCS Co-op.  They have numerous offices across the Lower Mainland and most importantly, their East Broadway offices are also the Co-op’s home!

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Hi there – to introduce one of the ‘folk’ here at the UCS Co-op I thought I would be the first to post something on our blog. I am (Emma) an intern working at the Co-op for the next few months, and have taken on part of rolling out Passion for Work 2010. We would love for members of the Co-op or other organizations taking part in Passion for Work Week to share their stories online – and to set the stage I will be posting some interviews of staff from various organizations which we are connected with. If you would like to share your stories in a similar manner we will have a place for stories during the week of Passion for Work, but you can always add a comment, or send me the content and I can add it as a post on its own.

If you want to know more about other staff here at the Co-op, visit the About Us page on our website.

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To encourage members to take part in celebrating Passion 2010, we have come up with a list of suggestions for ways to celebrate your passions – this list is far from exhaustive so extra suggestions are more than welcome.

• Story-sharing; gather together and talk about your experiences, your history and why you are working in this field
• Passion wall – dedicate a space in your office place where you can post notes of what makes you passionate, dates which are important to you, people who have inspired your passion, or images representing your passion
• “Show and tell” – bring in books, photos, articles, items which contribute to your passion or that have inspired you – or even have a work-club and talk about particular work items of interest
• Potluck or picnic; join with your co-workers to have a picnic inside or out of the office!
• Bake-off; see who can come up with the most creative baked good
• Secret Messengers – draw names and write to a co-worker about how they inspire you, what they have taught you, or how their passion has influenced yours
• Game-time! Play board games, team work games, or sports as an office just to play and have fun with each other
• Go on an outing together
• Go to a movie, or watch one at the office, and have a discussion

I am sure there are many more so please add comments of suggestions below

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To help kick of this new blog, we will be posting information about our upcoming Passion for Work Week 2010 – taking place March 22^nd to the 26^th. This year is our third annual celebration of Passion for Work Week, and in order to do something new we will be launching most of the content on this blog.

Click on the image to download the first poster, and get your office to start thinking about how to celebrate! We would like to encourage organizations to take part in a number of different activities (suggestions coming soon), with a focus on story-telling. We’ll be sharing some inspirational stories leading up to the week itself and we’d love to have you share your stories of how the passion for your work began – here on the blog and with your colleagues at the office!

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