LIFT FOOD SECURITY
Social impact is on the menu.
Participate in local community and food security when you: purchase a Good Food Box, visit our café, rent our commercial kitchen space or donate to food rescue.
Our work aims to support full circle loops, social connection, education, food security, and meaningful employment.
WHO WE ARE
We work alongside those who are considered “hard to reach” meeting them exactly where they are at, offering a supportive and inclusive environment that values the contributions of each participant. We create the opportunity for person centered-services using the term "Peers". Our core values at Lift are inclusion, growth and community. We embody these values throughout all of our Food Programming at the Nook Social Enterprise Cafe and our Community Resource Centre Food Hub.
FOOD SECURITY
Weekly we repurpose food for people first at our Community Resource Centre. The CRC hosts lunch programming Monday to Thursday at 12pm with coffee and treats until 4pm. This drop in offering would not be available without our food rescue efforts. There is a community free fridge available to access next to hygiene supplies, public washrooms and laundry facilities. Our Community Garden is located behind The CRC where lockers and showers are being built. We are actively seeking funding for our regions Food Policy Council to start up again.
EDUCATION & MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT
We partner with local school programs offering a curriculum to connect person, place and food alongside work experience. We host workshops in our spaces for our participants as part of programming and the general public for $. Our programs employ at-risk youth and peers to work alongside mentors in each of our programs. We specialize in working with youth and individuals who experience mental health or differences in the typical school system and society.
FULL CIRCLE LOOPS
In the garden we grow food, these raw veggies and fruits make their way to the kitchen for processing and then to the café to be sold. Food waste from our kitchen and café makes its way back to the garden nourishing the soil. All the way through this process we host work and experience opportunities where individuals engage with themselves and others. We support our local food system, programming and participants with full circle loops that create longevity and connection.
SOCIAL CONNECTION
We host a working group community where each individual is relied upon and shown up for. Social Connection is described as "the experience of feeling close to and connected to others involves feeling loved, belonging, cared for, and valued". Social connection forms the basis of interpersonal relationships. Feeling socially connected depends on the quality and number of meaningful relationships one has with people around them and community. It is the opposite of exclusion and isolation.
"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."
LIFT FOOD SECURITY PROJECT
218 – 6975 Alberni Street
Powell River, BC