Cheap tools are building futures
By John Mohan

When he moved to Winnipeg from Saskatchewan, he did so largely because his wife wanted to be closer to her parents. He also thought enroling as a University of Winnipeg student might be a good foundation for a future career. To help pay the bills he was employed at Siloam Mission, handling maintenance responsibilities. He was smart and could fix almost anything. He was raised in a family-owned construction and design company in Moose Jaw.

In a short while he discovered how inquisitive, hardworking and quick to learn the people were who frequented the Mission so he began casually teaching a few basic building maintenance skills. Feeling there was more that could be done, Stephen Dombowsky drafted a business plan that envisioned hiring and supervising able-bodied men and women to take on small construction projects and build marketable products to cover their wages.

Garden sheds were his first attempt. He rationalized that although small in scale, it would be a great teaching opportunity for homeless people to learn some of the fundamentals of construction which would hopefully get them better paying jobs with a real construction company down the road. He noted the great pride they took in learning new skills, building something tangible that people wanted to buy. But he also noticed how complicated and debilitating being homeless is and how those issues could show up or not show up on a job site. He knew challenging obstacles would have to be addressed on a daily basis but also knew successes were possible.

When he got wind that a cabinet-making company was closing and their tools and machines sold, he redrafted his business plan, secured shop space and bought the equipment. Interestingly the bigger his vision has gotten, the larger the private donations have been to support the program so he's been able to launch a woodworking shop almost debt free.

The real accomplishments that Stephen Dombowsky feels though are the personal successes of the employees (or program participants). He says, "Most of our guys are doing very well. They are learning, showing up regularly, and making positive changes in their lives. There are many exciting stories, such as some of the guys drawing closer to God, all of the guys donating some money to the bike-a-thon, and generally moving into better living standards."

He feels the Building Futures program is about more than learning employment skills. Dombowsky reports one member joined the program with the goal of learning how to better manage his finances.

The Building Futures director sees three major challenges: The personal struggles his employees face and the need for stable transitional housing for them, having enough volunteers, support staff and financial donations and ensuring their products sell to eventually make the program self-sustaining.

Building Future's grand opening is on Tuesday, June 9 (11 a.m.) at 585 Jarvis St.

You're invited to see futures being built.

--John Mohan is the CEO of Siloam Mission

Last Updated: 3rd June 2009, 4:36am

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