Employ To Empower

Advocacy.

What Do We Advocate For?

We act as advocates for the Downtown Eastside across the wider Vancouver community. We are committed to community outreach and facilitating creative events, such as exhibitions and dialogue sessions, for our members. We also distribute essential resources to residents in need, in a dignified way at our annual Street Store. Our goal through advocacy is to bring about positive social change for residents of the Downtown Eastside, by challenging common misperceptions and shifting the current stigma. We envision a Downtown Eastside community free of stigma, where residents are seen, heard and validated.

Our Initiatives.

The Street Store

The Vancouver Street Store is a free, annual, pop-up clothing store that offers a dignified shopping experience to residents in the Downtown Eastside.

The Cardboard Project

The Cardboard Project centres around the unveiling of a unique artwork created using messages written on cardboard, contributed by the Downtown Eastside community.

Exhibits

Entrepreneurs in our program are given the opportunity to share their work, abilities, and diverse stories at exhibitions throughout the year.

About The Street Store.

The Vancouver Street Store is an annual free pop-up clothing store that offers a dignified shopping experience to residents in the Downtown Eastside.

The Vancouver Street Store is a free pop-up clothing store for residents in the Downtown Eastside, facilitated by Employ to Empower with its partners every December. The goal of this event at Columbia and East Hastings is to provide a dignified shopping experience, where residents are uplifted and offered a hand up rather than a hand out. Since the Street Store was founded in 2014, we’ve worked with 293 volunteers, received 47,500 donations and impacted 5,666 residents.

Vancouver Street Store 2020 Information:
Date: Saturday, December 12, 2020
Location: 58 West Hastings Street
Time: 10-4PM

Donation Drop off information will be at Coastal Church at 1645 Grandview Highway.

IMPORTANT STREET STORE UPDATE! Thank you to everyone who showed up in the most amazing way at our first drop-off this past Saturday. Unexpectedly, we were met with an overwhelming response and have already filled our storage capacity! This means our original plan for collection is changing to accommodate this incredible response. Our drop-off times AND the limited list of high-need items we are now only accepting are as follows:

NEW TIMES:
December 5th drop-off times have been revised to 1-4 PM
December 10th drop-off time revised to 10AM – 1PM

DONATIONS:
We are now only accepting:
• backpacks
• blankets
• toiletries
• socks
• unused undergarments (new item added)

How You Can Get Involved:

Donate money to help ensure the long-term sustainability of the event. As you may be aware, the Street Store is how Employ to Empower began
Share and repost our event on Facebook or copy and paste the message below to help share via email
Tell EVERYONE about this impactful initiative to spread the cheer

Our Supporters.

About The Cardboard Project.

Cardboard Project event’s feature cardboard and cardboard responses in an artistically creative way and in order to spread important messages.

The Cardboard Project is a unique event that was inspired by the culture of individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty, who often write messages and stories on pieces of cardboard. The Cardboard Project features a unique artwork, created using messages written on cardboard. These messages respond to a different question every year, focusing on human connection, recovery, wisdom, community, listening, spirituality, and other themes. The Cardboard Project also features talks by thought leaders, discussions with our members, experiences inviting us all to connect, and an exhibition of our members’ artistic creations. The overall goal of the Cardboard Project is to dismantle prevailing negative stigmas and strive towards a Downtown Eastside neighbourhood where members are seen, heard, and validated, while feeling connected to the greater community.

Our Supporters.

Exhibitions.

Entrepreneurs in our program are given the opportunity to showcase their work and abilities and tell their diverse stories.

Every year, Employ to Empower hosts multiple public exhibitions at different locations in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood to showcase the work and abilities of our entrepreneurs. At our exhibitions, entrepreneurs in our program get much needed exposure, and a space where they can tell their stories of triumph and resiliency.

Coming Soon.