C3 Easy Home Services - FIESS Workshop

These reports were produced by volunteers (students or professionals). They do not aim to offer a
complete account of the exchanges that took place during the workshops and the plenary
sessions. Instead, they are a complement to the other information (PowerPoint or text) already
available on the FIESS website.
Workshop C3
Contribution of the Social Solidarity Economy to the Quality of Life
of Our Communities
Main issues raised by each speaker
Presentation 1 – Early Home Services by Timothy Ma, [email protected]
Easy Home Services (EHS) is a social enterprise based on providing in-home care services to the elderly
population and families of Hong Kong. The service was initially launched in 2009 by the Senior Citizens
Home Safety Association (SCHSA) and is also partially funded by a government program focussed on
the Hong Kong social economy and its continued development, entitled Enhancing Self-Reliance
Through District Partnership.
Easy Home Services has established as its mission four distinct principles;
A) Take-care of and satisfy the everyday household needs of their clients
B) Nurture the retrained personnel to develop their professional careers as competent household
managers
C) Achieve a financially sustainable and innovative business and service model while continuously
improving services and,
D) Advance the growth and development of the local household services industry.
The Easy Home Services and other social economy based social enterprises have developed since 1992
under the auspices of the Employee Retraining Board. At the time there was very high unemployment
due to drastic changes in the economic situation in Hong Kong, changes in the types of trade that
moved from manufacturing to service based industries, many new arrivals from the mainland and
elsewhere looking for employment and the migration of many factories to mainland China causing a
huge lay-off of local labourers.
The Employee Retraining Board (ERB) is an independent statutory body established under the Employee
Retraining Ordinance whose function is to coordinate, fund and monitor appointed local training bodies
and offer courses and services designed to meet the needs of a rapidly growing and changing labour
market. The ERB currently has 128 different training bodies featuring 420 training centres providing
services throughout a territory of over 7million people.
The retraining program is offering the opportunity to unemployed workers to adapt to the ever changing
labour market particularly workers those between 45-59 years of age, who’s unemployment rate rose to
3.8% while the overall rate of unemployment had declined to 3.2%. The ERB began to provide training
and Certificates in a variety of domestically oriented services such as Domestic Helpers, Massage for
Healthcare, Post-Natal Care, Elderly Home Care, Personal care as well as Infant and Child Care services.
As such, Easy Home Services offers these services and more with the following objective;
E) develop and deliver a wide variety of household services to meet the emerging and existing
needs of the population
F) establish efficient and effective systems to monitor and improve services
G) build the brand of EHS and demonstrate its uniqueness in the market
H) develop and maximize the capacity of retrained professionals to meet the needs of the service
market and,
I) facilitate the improvement and expansion of the household and domestic services market.
Presentation 2 – Réseau des Centres de ressources périnatales du Québec
Présenté par Louise Boucher, Directrice générale de Réseau des Centres de ressources périnatales du
Québec l’Association et Anne Desforges, Directrice générale de l’Association des CPE de l’Outaouais
The presentation centered around three focii; the evolution of family support and for children over the
last 50 years in Quebec, the origins and characteristics of the Centres de la Petite Enfance (CPE) and
the Réseau des Centres de Ressources périnatale (CRP) and finally, the challenges and results of the coconstruction and co-management of public policy.
A. The Evolution of Family Support
Even though the state in the early 1960’s began to take control and responsibility for education, health,
public infrastructure and economic development, they neglected to take it as far as families and young
children, particularly those from 0 to 5 years of age. As such support and responsibility was left to the
families themselves. However, over time the state finally began to intervene in family support and that
of young children but principally and almost exclusively within disadvantaged communities.
In the era between 1990 and 2000, three important developments presented themselves which enabled
the state to begin supporting real responses to the needs of families and young children. First was the
creation of public spaces to support families under the auspices of two structures; a) Centres de la
petite enfance (CPE) and b) Centres des ressources périnatales (CRP). The second was really the times
we were in when society began to reconcile the issue of work and family life by developing more
supportive work policies (maternity and paternity leave) as well as the recognition that families needed
this type of workplace support in a changing societal milieu. The third and perhaps most importantly
was the financial investment of the state in universal family allowances and a commitment to invest in a
province-wide network of CPE’s and CRP’s.
B. Origins of the CPE
In the beginning of the 70’s the first community day care centres began springing up throughout the
province. They were created by citizen groups, particularly women’s groups forming working committees
to fight for their rights, namely public financial support for children and families. In addition they
advocated for the support of initiatives developed by community organizations to respond to the needs
of their communities.
By the 90’s these initiatives turned into a network of community based day cares and they argued for
the development of a public network based supported by sound academic research undertaken in many
Quebec and Canadian universities and other public institutions (health and social services). In 1996 at
the Sommet sur l’économie et l’emploi de 96, the workshop on social economy proposed the
development of a network of CPE’s and the government retained the idea and made it a small part its
Family Policy.
Following the Sommet 96, the movement for the creation of the CPE and CPR network took hold and a
clear mission to create access, quality services, universality of the program and local proximity. A three
level mission emerged;
Educational
• Accompagnement, apprentissages pour les nouveaux parents et les jeunes parents;
• Une approche qui favorise la reconnaissance du rôle parental et l’autonomie des parents;
• Un programme éducatif commun édicté par la ministre, promu et diffusé par le réseau des CPE
comme référent de qualité.
Community
• Des services pour l’ensemble des familles, en collaboration avec les partenaires de la
communauté
Social
• Une contribution à la lutte à la pauvreté, d’abord pour les parents en facilitant leur entrée sur le
marché du travail puis directement auprès des enfants par une intervention de qualité dans leur
développement;
• Une contribution sociale d’abord pour les parents par la prévention en matière de santé
physique et mentale et puis directement pour les enfants handicapés, les nouveaux arrivants et
les enfants à besoins particuliers en facilitant leur intégration sociale.
C. Challenges and Results of Co-Construction and Co-Management of the Network
The presenters stated there were many challenges in developing a network using the model of a
partnership between the state and community based organizations not least of which was getting both
parties together to analyze the needs and then reconciling the different needs of the community versus
those of the state.
The planning process therefore involved resolving those issues, then fixing permanent objectives to
respond to the three-pronged mission of the CPE’s and CRP. This involved proposing an inclusive
governance model and structure that delivered quality service. Finally it called for determining a
financial structure that was not only adequate to their needs but sustainable over time as well.
The challenge remained as follows;
Les CPE, les CRP et l’État doivent ainsi relever le défi du partenariat afin de concilier les besoins des
parents et des enfants, le développement social et économique ainsi que la saine gestion des fonds
public. Le résultat d’une co-construction État-civile, ou l’État a la responsabilité première de financer,
planifier et règlementer et ou les CPE et CPR dispensent et gèrent les services, tout en conservant la
capacité d’innover.
The result finally was based on a clear economic development choice of supporting a Social Economy
Initiative based on;
•
•
•
•
The principle of a collective social enterprise
Democratic values and autonomy
Responds to the needs of the community
The elimination of inequality and the pursuit of community development
The model chosen was based on a social economy enterprise who’s mission is;
Des services publics dispensés par deux réseaux privés d’entreprises d’économie sociale, sans but
lucrative, contrôlés par les parents et la communauté, reposant sur une reconnaissance et une
implication professionnelles importantes des travailleuses.
Presentation 3 – Villa El Salvador
Presented by: Alfonso Cotera Fretel – Ex. Dir., Red Peruana de Comercio justo y Consumo
Ético
The Villa El Salvador really began as a people’s movement and desire for recognition of the human
rights of immigrants and migrant workers who had flocked to Lima, Peru in the late 60’s and early 70’s.
During that period thousands of families had left the Sierras of Peru looking for better economic
conditions. Unfortunately there were not many job opportunities in Lima at the time and these families
had a very difficult time in establishing themselves. Coupled with the fact the immigrants were
discriminated against, uneducated and unwanted by the general population clashes between them and
the rest of the population began to erupt.
The immigrants began to organize themselves and demand from the state living assistance,
employment and housing. There were a number of confrontations with local police and the Army that
resulted in many deaths and great social and economic upheaval in Lima. Finally the government
promised to a group of 200 of the most vocal and persistent families a place to live outside the Lima city
limits. The government announced that anyone who wanted housing should go to the sand flats south
of the City and they would be accommodated.
However, thousands instead of hundreds showed up and the people themselves began to build their
own homes. In effect Villa El Salvador began as a shanty town a hap-hazardly constructed community
built by the people with very little help from, and most of the time deliberate obstruction, the
government. Eventually through the efforts of the community and a strong Women’s group called
Federación Popular de Mujeres de Villa El Salvador (Fepomuves), they were able to obtain electricity and
water and sewage services.
In addition, the group began to organize basic education courses, public kitchens, a milk program for
infants, health committees and small economic projects to help sustain their community. Due to the
efforts of the people themselves they were finally able to achieve full municipal status in 1983 and
presently has a population of 381,790 inhabitants.