Common Ground Co-Operative (CGC) And The Five Associated Social Purpose Enterprises

“Common Ground Co-operative (CGC) and the five associated social purpose enterprises it supports are structured as business partnerships for people who have developmental disabilities”, (Lemon, 2011). Their mission statement is, “Empowering adults with developmental disabilities to lead meaningful, fulfilling lives. Their vision is, “ A world where all adults with developmental disabilities are vibrant and valued members of the community. Common Ground Co-operative is an umbrella organization that provides on the job and administrative support to over 65 adults in registered business partnerships. The business partnerships include: Lemon and Allspice Cookery, New College Coffee Shed, Surrey Place Coffee Shed, JVS Coffee Shed and CleanABLE
In the beginning Carolyn Lemon took responsibility of the finances and planning and as the organization grew it became important to Carolyn that the partners become more of an active role in their business.
Common Ground Co-operative was first incorporated in early 2000 and it is a non profit charity that employs administrative staff and job coaches. This cooperative was created and incorporated separate from Lemon and Allspice Cookery in order to raise money for job coaches and administrative staff ie; accountant. The expansion continued and by the fall of 2000 CGC received its first major grant from the Ontario Employment Supports Program. CGC functioned solely on grants and in 2006 received Charitable Status. “CGC was accepted for permanent core funding through the Ministry of Community and Social Services in 2006.” (Lemon, 2011). Surrey Place Coffee Shed opened in 2001 with help from the Ontario Employment Support Grant. This would be the organization's first retail coffee shed and would be an organization that serves people with developmental disabilities and
Partners are allowed to earn a maximum of $200 per month without having money deducted from their support. Partners are paid 33% of the revenues of their business. Partners vary in share holding depending on their role in the organization and variation of hours worked. The average yearly earnings for partners in the Coffee Sheds and the Cookery was $757.00 as of 2013. The remaining funds are allocated to pay operating and administrative expenses. Common Ground Cooperative receives a 5% fee from the associated businesses to fund administrative expenses. CGC is dependent on grants, fundraising initiatives and roughly 70% of funding comes from the Ministry of Community and Social Services. Job coaches would be staff who are trained in social services and/or fields similar to assist the partners in meeting their goals and running their business. Job coaches are hired on a contractual