Affordable Housing | Purpose Construction

Over

$17,407,593.00

IN SUCCESSFUL
CONTRACTS COMPLETED

406

people
employed

For every $1 You spent

$4.29

Is returned in
positive social impact

INSTAGRAM

@purpose_construction

purpose_construction

Our trainees came up with a name, logo, mission, a

Every Thursday from 12:45-2 John from the John How

Every Thursday from 12:45-2 John from the John Howard Society (not the same John) has spent time with our trainees doing a literacy and writing workshop. They’ve been working on their resumes, but technical stuff like that gets a bit boring after a while, so yesterday they worked on writing poems.

Our partnership with JHS is a new one, and one we’re so happy to have made. We get the benefit of a likeminded community friend who can help our trainees, our trainees get the benefit of learning new or honing existing skills, and JHS get the benefit of working with an org that can intake and provide opportunities for the people they work with. It’s a happy little ecosystem!

It’s mudding and taping day in the shop. Our fri

It’s mudding and taping day in the shop. Our friends at J Correia Plastering are sharing their expertise, tips, and tricks (it is Halloween after all) with the trainees so they’ll have a solid foundation when they move on to our job sites in a few weeks.

In da clerb, we all fam. (In the workshop, we all

In da clerb, we all fam.
(In the workshop, we all work together).
Two weeks in for this cohort and they’re all learning new skills and working together. It’s real nice.

And they’re off! Last Friday we celebrated grad

And they’re off! Last Friday we celebrated grad with our second cohort of trainees. We love a celebration, and these folks deserve to be celebrated. They showed up, worked hard, and are all moving on to their next chapters. We had capacity to hire two and our pals at BUILD were able to hire three! Others are continuing on their path of growth they started with us. Any way you look at it, we’re thankful we got to spend the last six-months with this group of great humans.

Our latest cohort started last week and we’re excited to share their work. We’ve also formed some new partnerships with other community organizations we’re looking forward to telling you about!

Thanks to @ginouskunphoto for these great pics!

Today is Orange Shirt Day as well as the National

Today is Orange Shirt Day as well as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It is a day to recognize the harms that were done by residential schools; to think about what those harms look like in today's society; to honour and listen to survivors; to remember and pay tribute to those who didn’t come home, and to think about what reconciliation looks like today and in the years to come.

Our friends at ParkWest Projects were kind enough

Our friends at ParkWest Projects were kind enough to tour our trainees around their 160 Salter site. It was a great opportunity for them to see how big commercial jobs work and ask questions of ParkWest staff. Not to mention the photo ops were impeccable.

We’re so appreciative of the relationships we have with likeminded companies that can show our folks what post-training can look like.

We left our teeny office on the second floor for t

We left our teeny office on the second floor for the wide open spaces (and amazing wood shop) of the third. There are many good things that have come from the move (hello office space!) but maybe the best is that we can now have horse sized dogs come visit. Say hello to Ringo.

We’re recruiting for our October training cohort

We’re recruiting for our October training cohort. Are you or someone you know looking to make a change or to get your foot in the door in the trades? This could be a great opportunity!

Our program is approximately five months, with the first six-weeks spent in our workshop learning basic carpentry, like hand and power tool safe-use. Folks will take first aid, C.P.R., fall-arrest, and confined spaces safety certification. In the six-week class time we will work with folks to get IDs and a bank account if they need, and we’ll have literacy classes, resume and interview skills, money management workshops, and other life skills stuff. There will also be Indigenous cultural teachings.

After the six-weeks of in class, folks will go work on Purpose Construction builds alongside our staff!

Trainees will be paid $16/hr and have access to our employer paid benefit program after three weeks.

We ask that interested folks be stably housed and have (or can get) a cell phone.

This time last week we were worried about rain but

This time last week we were worried about rain but having fun at our staff bbq. This year, thanks to two intrepid managers, we had sports* and games! Nothing like a little friendly competition between coworkers to build up an appetite. The rain stayed away and we had a great time, complete with our annual tug-o-war which went the way it usually goes (sound up to hear the winning technique). We love what we do and who we get to do it with!

*if bocce and horseshoes are considered a sport.

Out of office, but still working! Our GM Sheri, ED

Out of office, but still working! Our GM Sheri, ED Kalen, and @tessawhitecloud from @siloammission are working at a @habitatforhumanitymb build today! We always love it when we can work with other organizations dedicated to housing.

As June draws to a close we're wrapping up our Pri

As June draws to a close we're wrapping up our Pride month highlights. Pride might be over, but we're queer all year. Working in a queer-centric space is something case manager and communications coordinator Sara doesn't take for granted. It allows her and others team members to really think about what's possible outside of the norm when it comes to what kind of place Purpose can be.

Growing up in a construction family gave our ED Ka

Growing up in a construction family gave our ED Kalen the opportunity to see both the good and the bad of the industry. They got to see completed projects which meant a family got a new home, but they also saw the harassment their mom went through as a woman in the trades. Here they talk about how both those experiences inform how they run Purpose.

The Pride hits keep coming! Here our GM Sheri talk

The Pride hits keep coming! Here our GM Sheri talks about how a positive coming out experience at a former workplace informs the space she helps create at Purpose. That’s the thing about positive queer experiences, they don’t happen in a vacuum and they tend to multiply, leading to a greater benefit for all.

We’re continuing to celebrate Pride month, and t

We’re continuing to celebrate Pride month, and today we’re celebrating National Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Meet Trudy! Maybe you’ve seen her in some of our other posts, but today she has a message we want to share. She talks about opportunities, which is timely because Trudy is starting a new journey with ParkWest Projects next week! While we’re sad to see her go, we’re excited for her future.

We couldn’t let June go by without acknowledging

We couldn’t let June go by without acknowledging Pride! This is an opportunity for us to share some of the queer folks who make our company what it is. Stay tuned for more stories as we wind up the month.

Yesterday was a good day. So many people from our

Yesterday was a good day. So many people from our sector joined together with Ministers and government representatives to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Social Enterprise Centre. As Michael, one of our employees said, this building is more than a building. He talked about his experience first walking through these doors to go to MITT, and how, years later while looking to make a change, he walked through these doors again for an interview for our training program. Yesterday was an opportunity for him to catch up with Rob Loiselle, current MLA for St Boniface and former head of the carpentry/trades program at MITT. It was also an opportunity for Cassie, a trainee in our program, to catch up with Honourable Minister Bernadette Smith. Minister Smith has known Cassie for most of her life, in fact Cassie once lived with Minister Smith. This building is a gathering place, a place for second/third/fourth chances, and a place where people make choices and are brave. It really is a house of courage.

We’re nominated for the NexGen Builders Employer

We’re nominated for the NexGen Builders Employers award in the Canadian Building Diversity Awards! This award recognizes a construction industry employer who “has excelled in supporting the welcome and professional growth and development of diverse workers in the workplace.” There were over 130 applications for the ten categories, and we’re so proud to have been chosen as a nominee.

While some folks work outside, others work inside.

While some folks work outside, others work inside. Here's Barret, Damian, and Lawrence (the other Lawrence, haha) taping and cutting vapour barrier to make sure everything's up to code and getting this project one step closer to completion.

We mentioned our new group of trainees were on job

We mentioned our new group of trainees were on job sites, and one of them is our newest Purpose Home! Our crews are taking care of both the exterior and interior, so our trainees will get a chance to try out a bunch of different skills. Here we see Lawrence and Erika (under the supervision of Michael, former trainee now employee) adding the finishing touches to the siding they've helped install. We know it's what's inside that counts, but a little curb appeal never hurt anyone and this crew is helping to make the outside look crisp.

Load More Follow on Instagram