Reputedly the most famous restaurant in Los Angeles, The Original Pantry at 9th and Figueroa, was a frequent Sunday breakfast destination for my family when I was growing up. Stacks of piping hot pancakes pleasantly soaked in gooey syrup and dripping with butter are my most prominent recollection. Incidental to the memory is one of my parents talking about how the place employed only ex-convicts who did everything from managing the restaurant to flipping the hot cakes. While the restaurant’s webpage makes no mention of it, at the time it was an important reason (other than the fluffy consistency of the made-to-order flapjacks) for frequenting the place. Whether it was the progressive cachet of eating there or the honest desire to help out their fellow man (and indeed the employees then were all men), my parents’ choice of an eatery organized around employing the potentially unemployable stuck in my mind.
Social purpose enterprises may have a long history – one of the earliest existed in 1844 – but lately there seems to be a growing trend. They differ from conventional businesses, according to Jack Quarter, Sherida Ryan and Andrea Chan “in that they are not designed for their owners to make a return on an investment,” though they sometimes do. Instead, they prioritize their social objectives. In particular, their aim is “the betterment of a marginalized social group,” like, perhaps, ex-convicts trying to rehabilitate themselves to become productive, law-abiding citizens. Other populations that benefit from social purpose enterprises are the mentally and physically challenged.
It probably won’t surprise anyone that “Social Purpose Enterprises: Case Studies for Social Change” is a Canadian publication (University of Toronto Press). But organizations of this type can be found everywhere. While they come in many types, a distinguishing feature is that they often provide training, work and wages for the very people they help. They fill a gap by employing people who may find it difficult, if not impossible, to find a job elsewhere. In an age of diminishing social welfare, organizations that provide marginalized individuals the means to earn a living (instead of a handout) have much value. They provide the means for many disadvantaged people to live independent, dignified lives.
Quarter, Ryan and Chan have written a book borne of research that also manages to be informative, and in some ways, inspiring. While not every social purpose enterprise succeeds, the notion that they can survive at all suggests that opportunities both for helping the less advantaged (by buying the products and services of these enterprises), and for the less advantaged to take care of themselves, are more plentiful than one might think.
In one case, the research aim was to test the effectiveness of this innovative business model as an employment option for the developmentally disabled. Data on the number of developmentally disabled adults in the United States are imprecise, but some studies suggest that as many as 16 percent of American children exhibit some developmental delays. Thankfully, most will catch up to their peers, thereby reducing that number. Nevertheless, a 2008 study showed that there were nearly 34,000 developmentally disabled people in state run institutions in the U.S. Many more, of course, live outside of institutions, either with family or on their own.
A striking aspect of this book is that the case studies reveal many of the same issues that arise in any organization – workers’ desires for autonomy and higher wages, for example. Other issues relate to the special circumstances of disadvantaged and marginalized people trying to learn the ins and outs of regular work, such as showing up on time (and every day) as well as what it means to take on responsibility. But, then again, these are lessons that many new workers have to learn as well.
What value is there in reading the book? Marginalized individuals are often hidden in our society. How they manage to earn a living (or not) is rarely a topic of conversation or of formal policy. By focusing on these individuals and the places they work, “Social Purpose Enterprises” brings them into view; the case studies, including interviews with owners and workers, make them very real as well. FBN
By Constance DeVereaux
Flagstaff Business News