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SOSC 1341 Introduction to the Social Economy, Short Assignment, Fall 2020
Organization: West Neighborhood House, https://www.westnh.org/
Purpose/Social Objective:
The social objective of the West Neighborhood House (formerly known as the St. Christopher House) is to support the community through making the lives of the less fortunate families and groups easier by identifying the needs and issues than planning an appropriate response to the same (mission and vision page). It works in partnership with community groups to identify the needs and engage both groups and individuals to plan for the programs to provide necessary resources and skills. It also promotes socio-economic conditions in which families and individuals in the area of catchment thrive in; the multicultural neighborhoods of Southwest Toronto, from the lakeshore in the south to Bloor Street in the north and from Bathurst Street in the east to Roncesvalles Avenue in the west (about West Neighborhood House page). The organization operates out of six facilities, thus offering a wide range of community-based social service programs that serves people of all ages, over 13,000 people per annum. For the above reasons, the purpose of West Neighborhood House is to strengthen the community and provide aid to the marginalized people and groups in Toronto; the southwest area; for the community development projects, it brings up benefit groups in intending to change the face of the community.
Finance/Resources:
The West Neighborhood House gets funding from the public sector, for it depends on public grants for its programs and services. Also, the organization depends on general donations from well-wishers and labor donations from volunteers. In the financial year 2018-2019, the West Neighborhood House received $301 200 from government sources, which is approximately 7.5% of the total revenue. Being a registered charity organization, individual companies and other private sector organization teams donate money regularly. The total monetary donations by individual companies, well-wishers, and other private sector teams were 90% of the total amount of money they had for their financial year programs and services. The whole year had labor donations of 10,000 volunteers and 200 volunteer groups that helped bring up the services and programs to success (financial report 2018-2019).
Governance:
The West Neighborhood House is governed by the board of directors (fifteen-member board of directors) who are elected by the organization’s voting membership to lead a team of volunteers, participants, and staff in developing the community programs managing the organization. The organization is also governed by policies that guide their working following its mission, vision, and principles. The policies are reviewed periodically, with some of the policies being; acceptance of gifts, accessibility policy, multiyear accessibility plan, bed bugs policy, board political activity policy, and the advocacy policy. They guide all members of the West Neighborhood House community that includes the employees, volunteers, participants, students, visitors, contractors, and suppliers. Members vote towards an agreement in the annual general meetings; members are entitled to vote at the annual general meeting and participate in decision-making for essential house decisions (the voting membership page). The West Neighborhood House organization believes in strong membership, for it shows credibility and a strong connection to the community and can help secure funding for the activities and programs in an easy way. Being an organization in Toronto, the organization is guided by the government policy of the Canadian government. The organization activity is dependent on receiving funds from both the public sector and the private, for it encourages donations from all over to the extent that it is following their policies. For that reason, it is dependent on the public and private sectors.
Social Economy Component/Type:
The West Neighborhood House organization represents a Civil Society Organization Component. The organization is not associated with the government, including government institutions, schools and universities, advocacy groups, professional associations, churches, and cultural institutions. It is not a state or a family association but has a positive impact on life’s social and economical ways. According to the Quarter text, a civil society organization has a wide range of organizations that can be divided into non-profit mutual associations that serve the public and an organization that serve a membership just as it is in this organization. It is of a diverse classification for it embraces a variety of organizations that are neither private nor public but have frequent interactions with those sectors because their members work in those sectors, their donors are found in those sectors and in one way, or another may relate to these sectors through their programs and services (Quarter, 2010). According to its financial statements, receiving 7.5% of grant funding from the public sector makes it have minimal interaction with government sources and frequent interaction with the private sectors, which have proven to be the most in giving donations. Organization: Me to We, https://www.metowe.com/
Purpose/Social Objective:
When it was started, the mission was to inspire children at home to make a difference through service and help children worldwide get away from the extreme poverty befalling many families (organization, 2020). The organization’s services and programs have the engagement of schools in collaboration with international and domestic programs. It nurtures compassion in students by providing learning materials to students in need to create a transformative social change as the organization also celebrates the youth making a difference in their local areas and global communities. Through its activities, Me to We global charity impacts by giving clean water to people in need of it, educating children, and leading women in business, among other strategies. So far, one million people have been empowered to lift themselves out of poverty, 200,000 children have accessed education in the various places they are globally, and there have been 27.6 million domestic hours of volunteer service logged through the We schools. The We schools are a series of programs that are designed to bring service-learning to schools, the We Day is a celebration of doing good both in the local areas and globally, and the We villages are a proven development model created with an aim to stop poverty globally. From the above, the organization’s social objective is to strengthen the community by freeing children and their families from poverty and exploitation (About We Charity page).
Finance/Resources:
The organization accepts funding resources from the public sectors, private sectors, and general donations of money and labor through people volunteering. It partners with corporations because that partnership positively influences both profit and non-profit sectors to achieve greater social good and change the world. In the year 2019, the assets held in trust were $1,688,650, which had in it the contributions receivable as $1,663,156, and those due from government agencies as $25494; a clear indication that they financially interact positively with the private sector than the public sector (auditor’s financial statement 2019). The unrestricted donations in 2019 added up to $274,845, with the contributions in kind being $14 623 in the same year.
Governance:
I to We organization has a board of directors that governs the organization’s programs and services, helping in the organization’s mission by providing legal, financial, and social influence oversight to the organization’s projects and activities. There is the Chief Financial officer, board member, and financial advisor in the governance team and the executive director in the top ranks of governing the organization. To We is a global organization; thus, it has a board of directors for each country that has its branch in. In governance, an executive team has the executive director, chief financial officer, chief operations officer, and ambassadors in it. The executive team leads the whole global organization while the board of directors leads the team in the country within which it is situated (The We Charity Team page). Being an organization, it is also guided by the government policy of the respective country following that country’s regulations. The organization is dependent on receiving funding from both the public sector and private sectors, for it receives grant funding and other donations, including labor donations from the sectors to the extent that it is following their policies.
Social Economy Component/Type:
The Me to We organization represents a Community Organization Development organization component because it works with both state and private sectors to build a robust global community. The organization interacts with all the sectors to achieve its mission and vision to create a better world for children, free from poverty, just as brought up in the Quarter’s text (Quarter, 2010). The organization relied upon the government, private sector funders, and other organizations in its initial startup phase and sustained itself. The organization interacts with the private sector through volunteer programs and other fundraising programs and with the public sector through grants from the government, among other resources. According to its financial statements, the Me to We organization had contributions from the private sectors through the donations and public sectors through the government agencies funds and had donations from other well-wishers; hence the whole interaction is clear.
References
House, W. N. (2020, October 29). West Neighborhood House. Retrieved from West Neighborhood House Website: https://www.westnh.org/
the organization, M. t. (2020, October 29). Me to We web page. Retrieved from metowe.org: https://www.metowe.com/
Quarter, J. (2010). An Interactive View of the Social Economy. Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research Revue, 8-22.