Cruise British Columbia Initiative

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Stars4SUCCESS
Dave Donaldson, CFE
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Diversity

• Socio-economic
• Destinations
• Cook Studio café
• Dumpster Diver Society
• Stars4SUCCESS

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If you held the key to a brighter future for
young people in _____, would you use it to unlock
that door?
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Stars4SUCCESS

• CAFP Vancouver Excellence in Education
• Association of Canadian Community Colleges
  Program Excellence
• BC Tourism Outside the Box

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The beginning

• The program was inspired by a frank discussion
  between (then) Vancouver Mayor (now Senator)
  Larry Campbell and members of the Vancouver Hotel
  General Managers' Association about the havoc
  homeless youth are wreaking on their members'
  businesses.
• A candid Campbell told the hoteliers that a
  solution wouldn't come from governments or
  politicians. He challenged them to look within
  the industry for an answer.

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Stars4SUCCESS

• Industry responded to the challenge!
• Covenant House was approached by the Vancouver
  General Managers Hotel Association
• Stable, committed street youth were identified by
  Covenant House representatives.
• Gordon Youth House and Urban Native Youth
  organizations were also included
• Vancouver Community College was invited to
  provide condensed Hospitality Training.

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Partnerships

• Covenant House (Project Coordinator)
• Gordon Youth House
• Urban Native Youth
• Vancouver Community College
• VHGMA member hotels
• The Vancouver Agreement (grant request - 2004)
• Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
  (grant request 2005)

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Four Key Elements

• Candidate selection
• Training
• Job Shadowing
• Recruitment, Placement Mentoring

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Candidate Selection

• Employment criteria provided
• Candidates hand-picked
• Stable, alcohol/drug free
• Basic life issues under control
• Actively pursuing a healthy lifestyle
• Demonstrated stable housing
• Desire to work in hospitality
• Strong referral from worker advocate
• Change in 2005 from street to at-risk youth

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Training

• Two distinct stages over 8 week period
• -JET newly developed 6 week program
• -VCC 2 weeks customized for hospitality
• 2005 all training in an integrated 8-week
  program at VCC
• Industry involvement
• -Drop-ins to training by H.R., G.M.
• -Tours of participating hotel facilities.
• -Delivery of certain course material

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Shadowing

• 4 week on-the-job shadowing
• Each participant was interviewed selected by
  the participating hotel
• Could rotate between different hotels to get a
  feel for different atmosphere, style
  environment.
• Review assessment upon completion.

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Recruitment Mentoring

• Upon successful completion graduation,
  employers selected candidates.
• Ideally offered permanent FT opportunities, but
  may only be able to PT or seasonal.
• Appropriate Mentors identified assigned.
• If laid-off during off-peak season, explored
  potential placement at other properties.

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• 19 street youth entered the Stars4SUCCESS program
  in January 2004
• ALL off the streets
• 12 became full time employees in 4- and 5-diamond
  hotels
• Remainder chose other industries or reunited with
  families and/or returned to home cities

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Comparative Costs
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The results

• Instead of stealing apples from markets during
  the day and dodging drug dealers by night, she
  worries about furnishing her Kitsilano apartment
  and making friends at her job taking phone
  reservations at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver.
• A 2004 Stars4SUCCESS graduate

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The results

• Heavy drug use in high school landed him on the
  streets. He spent two years with no fixed
  address, sleeping at the airport, bus depot or
  emergency shelters and scrounging for cash to buy
  drugs.
• Now he dreams of the tips he'll be pulling in at
  his new job as a banquet server.
• A 2004 Stars4SUCCESS graduate

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2004
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Trucker Story
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2005Youth At Risk
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Ethnicity - 2005
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Demographics - 2005
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Stars4SUCCESS 2

• 40 at-risk youth began training in January 2005
• 24 completed program and were eligible for
  employment
• Only 10 were offered employment
• Hiring cycle differed from program completion
• Used variety of agencies for referral
• ROP and dependency support

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2005
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2006A Booming Economy
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Stars4SUCCESS 3

• Only 8 youth successfully screened for program
• Two completed and were employed
• Youth could find work on any job site in
  Vancouver and earn 25.00 per hour to obtain
  funds for continuing on the street

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Comparison of programs
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Challenges

• Dealing with street/at-risk youth with secondary
  problems
• Dependency
• Mental
• Not part of main stream (need to be taught
  basics)
• Dynamics changed in Vancouver
• Types of youth
• Access to employment
• Funding and red tape

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Key Elements

• Industry led and initiated program
• Real jobs offered with demonstrated real
  commitment
• In order to achieve stable housing, participants
  needed to be paid during training and job shadow
• These youth are bright, articulate and mature

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Can this work elsewhere?

• Need commitment and an industry leader
• Colleges can provide training
• Challenge will be finding agency that can provide
  counseling, support, housing (as required) and
  transition from street to employment
• Funding required to provide wages to youth during
  training so they can secure housing

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"The kind of carte blanche blank cheque programs
to create jobs, they're gone," ... "I've never
seen a program that has made such a
difference.Paul Nathan, Program Coordinator,
Covenant House
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If you held the key to a brighter future for
young people in ____, would you use it to unlock
that door?
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Questions and Discussion
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Stars4SUCCESS