October is Community Living Month in B.C. and there is probably no better example of what that means to a community than the success story of the Sunshine Coast Association for Community Living and the forward thinking folks behind the organization.
SCACL, as the society is commonly called, serves people with developmental disabilities. One of the difficulties these folks face is finding meaningful employment, and the big challenge the society itself has is raising funds independent of government.
Rather than going “cap in hand” to the province and holding their breath every time a budget comes down, SCACL, under the capable administration of Glen McClughan, long-time executive director of the organization, has been proactive. Increasingly that has meant the Society becoming a social entrepreneur.
This last year has been a busy one for McClughan and the other partners of a new company, Persephone Brewing Incorporated. SCACL has a five per cent share in the company. In the 15 months since the shareholders of Persephone took possession of the land, SCACL’s shares in the company have tripled in value.
Right from the start Persephone Farm Ltd., the company SCACL formed to be a part of the business, had employment of the people it serves as a priority. And to that extent it’s also been wildly successful.
“My people just love, love, love working there. It’s such a beautiful environment. Every Tuesday everyone comes out to the farm and we feed them all there,” McClughan said.
And the benefits don’t stop there. SCACL purchased a brick pizza oven and Feast to Farm, a catering company, rents it from them. This past September the farm had its first hops crop harvested, a coup McClughan sees a real future in.
“Less than one per cent of the beer brewed in B.C. contains hops grown here. Most of it comes from Oregon or Washington state. If we could create a hops industry on the Coast, it would be good for the Coast and create more opportunities for our people,” he said.
But hops isn’t the only crop the farm is producing. Right now sleeves of organic garlic grown on location at the brewery are for sale at Claytons Heritage Market and IGA.
The farm is even “growing” a new warehouse, where Persephone beer can be bottled and canned mechanically. Right now it’s a manual production that limits the involvement of the people SCACL serves. Once the assembly line kicks into gear more folks will be able to work there.
Another production McClughan is cooking up is a pickle venture with a young chef from Vancouver. At present it’s in the planning stage, but McClughan thinks there is no limit to what the line could make — pickles, salsa, kimchi — the ideas are plentiful.
McClughan is thrilled with both Dion Whyte, the farm manager, and Brian Smith, one of his partners, and the value they place on the SCACL contribution to the success of the operation.
Another person McClughan has high praise for is Chad Joe of West Coast Mining.
“[Joe] is just a tremendous benefactor to us. For the second year in a row he donated some of the money raised from the Comedy on the Coast event to us. In addition he cleared another five acres of the property, so we hope to put six acres into hops next year. He is so good to us.”
McClughan credits a review with an American company that SCACL had four years ago with some of the ideas for social enterprise he and others in the society have come up with.
“We were able to have bilateral conversations with the surveyors because in the States there is much less government help for folks with disabilities. They shared some of the ideas they had seen of successful fundraising and employment opportunities for the American equivalent of Community Living,” he shared.
The Americans were back for a follow up visit this week. McClughan planned to pick their brains to find ways to employ more of the people he serves in the off season. He expects that an expanded retail market at the farm will help in that regard. But it’s probably a year or so away.
He’s pleased with the success of the farm and thinks it bodes well for his replacement when the time comes.
“At my stage of life looking for a successor with all that we have to offer makes it likely we’ll get a strong candidate to continue SCACL’s success,” McClughan said.
“Community Living Month is a time to recognize the contributions of people with developmental disabilities and to acknowledge the people who support them. It’s also an opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come in building inclusion and accessibility, and to commit to increasing acceptance, understanding and diversity in our communities,” Don McRae, the Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation, said in a press release.
On the Coast the proof of that inclusion will once again take place this election when the people vying for public office will meet at SCACL to answer the questions of the voting folks the society serves. Every candidate is scheduled to be part of the forum — another of McClughan’s initiatives to serve the people he cares for so passionately.
