SMALL RITUAL EVERYTHING!

SMALL RITUAL COFFEE! LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT! COMMUNITY! HEALTH!

Small Ritual Health Society has been a registered not-for-profit since 2009. Our best known project to the public was a café in White Rock, BC, Canada: Small Ritual Coffee. Having successfully sprouted and tended community there, we held a 200-word essay contest and gave away the café’s assets and offered training to a new community host and his team for free! We love coffee and we love community. Everything we did from White Rock to Fernie flows from these two simple concepts.

We have ongoing Leadership Development Collaborations and Services for strengthening all types of Leaders, including corporate, international, and government. Community Leadership projects run at a discount or can be eligible for (partial or full) sponsorship.

We are currently in the brainstorming and collaboration phase for our next community health project. Input? See a need? Want to sponsor or contribute to something life-changing? or begin building your legacy? info@ourhealthsociety.org

Please email us if you

have a way for us to collaborate with you in community health or leadership development
are looking for program developers, delivery and trainers
would like to sponsor a participant or a program
would like more information on one of our previously established programs or
if you would like to volunteer in any way

VISION

We will continue to challenge how people view health, leadership, and the ways to care for the individual and the community. We will lead by example. Health development and health sustainability are best achieved through community-building. If true community is created, then the individuals will contribute and receive (often simultaneously) true support and inspiration to develop immediate and future solutions naturally. If effective facilitators are in place, organizational and individual health solutions come from within, and support will grow organically around the frameworks we create.

MANDATE and SUCCESS

We create community health and leadership projects in a way that is real, person-centred and exists in everyday life. It is imperative that the networks and supports we create and tend are inclusive of all walks and stages of need. In true community the networking and support are felt as connections and relationships. We must build this to alleviate shame and promote free exchange of ideas, beliefs and expressions. We must tend to this to be approachable for those who might not be able to ask for help. Doing so will effectively and holistically stabilize, fortify and enrich individuals’ health and; thus lives and; thus community health and thus; community life.

CURRENT PROGRAMS

Small Ritual Health Society currently runs its programming various partners, public spaces and community events. The model is quite complex and innovative, but necessary to build a place of community that feels authentic. When you walk into Small Ritual’s coffeeshop or a partnering community space, the first feeling is not that you have walked into a place where programs are run, but one of inclusion and community ownership. Currently, the society aims to find solutions for community health and development mainly by devising and running community programming that meets any of the following needs/ideals:

work with persons with disabilities to gain skills, community connections, confidence and establish a work history one would be proud to use as a reference
host a non-exclusive volunteer program o develop and run skill-building programs
hire unskilled persons based on their character and willingness to try, investing in them and building their skills and experience from scratch
staff and volunteers serve as a community connection point for youth at risk, often liaising with parents, social workers, youth workers and probation officers
assists artists, including those from Canada Mental Health's programs in displaying their art or curating their shows
teach coffee knowledge courses, with a focus on how our consumer choices effect the world
teach tea knowledge courses with a focus on health
offer tastings of fair or directly traded specialty teas
offer cuppings of fair or directly traded specialty coffees
active partner in developing and acting out our community health strategic plan
use the kitchen as a training space for persons with disabilities or barriers to employment
contribute to individual and community pride by hosting food offerings where the priority is to provide work experience or build confidence from those whom are suffering
both junior and senior level staff work with (program participant and community) volunteers directly
host LGBT socials
screen and pair program participants with community sponsors in our recovery support program
hold cooking classes for bachelor cooking, senior cooking, general food knowledge, all with a focus on quality and local sustainability while being fully aware of the need to be economical with one’s food budget
buddy walking and connecting program for accompanying persons to 'tough' appointments (PO, mental health, legal, doctor, social services, etc.) on foot, as a ‘friend.’

As much programming as possible is run at any given time provided there are enough funds, trained volunteers, participants and active partners. It is not the typical old 'run a separate for-profit business that makes money for its mission’ model.

Please email us if you have a way for us to collaborate with you in community health are looking for program developers, delivery and trainers would like to sponsor a participant or a program would like more information on one of our previously established programs or if you would like to volunteer in any way.

Find out more

About Us

COMMUNITY

GENERAL OFFICE HOURS

We see cultural promotion, skill-building and community leadership as pillars of social health and wellness. We work very hard to make the integration between persons with barriers and persons without obvious barriers to be seamless, because really, we all have bumps, barriers, and we can all learn from eachother. Integration is a strong theme for us. Small Ritual Coffee Society ‘s collaborative café projects promotes local culture and diversity through: cultivating local emerging performing and visual artists, hosting and promoting locally produced products, foods and crafts, encouraging community workshops (Show What You Know Program), formal talks and informal philosophical exchange developing and providing community education (in partnership with other not for profits, cultural and tourism organizations) on supporting and living locally and with an environmentally conscious footprint promoting multi-cultural and inter-faith communication, freedom and celebration.

If you are interested in using our skills to help actualize your community-oriented goals of your next or current project, reach out to us for a helping hand.

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GENERAL OFFICE HOURS

Tues-Thurs
6am – 1pm
Don’t like our hours!? You can help change them by volunteering: the more trained volunteers we have, the more cool stuff we can do, and the more time to connect with you!

VOLUNTEER

Interested in becoming a volunteer? We are interested in having you.

In order to achieve all this we need the comm

Tues-Thurs
6am – 1pm
Don’t like our hours!? You can help change them by volunteering: the more trained volunteers we have, the more cool stuff we can do, and the more time to connect with you!

VOLUNTEER

Interested in becoming a volunteer? We are interested in having you.

In order to achieve all this we need the community to get involved: what better way than volunteering some time? If this concept interests you, then there are several ways you can participate. Training will be provided so no skills or experience are necessary to sign up!

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BE the CHANGE

GENERAL OFFICE HOURS

BE the CHANGE

Fill out a volunteer application to let us know what areas interest you and what experience and special skills you have to offer or want to gain. You can email us at info@ourhealthsociety.org and we will email you the form. We hire out of our volunteer pool first, so if you are looking to work with us later, being oriented as a volunteer is a great place to start! After attending an orientation and completing general training (six 2-3hr shifts) you will have a good idea of what you might like to learn next and what your favourite way to be involved is. Our hope is that you can commit to a minimum of one shift every week or 2 weeks. Shifts will be between two to four hours.. For some people this will be a difficult commitment and for others it will be easy. We will do our best to work with each individual situation, skills and goals. All volunteers (19 and over) will be required to have a criminal record check completed before they can volunteer without direct supervision. These checks are free if you have a letter of intent from us. If you are a minor, a consent form will need to be signed by your guardian before you begin regular shifts. We hope to see you at the next volunteer orientation.

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Out of the Box History

An innovative church with community passion for all people

Yes, it is true that Small Ritual was initiated by an out-of-the-box thinking church! But after the church membership shifted and the reality of being responsible for a volunteer-run not-for-profit (with $77 000 in the red after one year) set in, the project was abandoned and the current team took over. We still collaborate with that church, other religious groups and community organizations when we have projects where our values and efforts can shine together. Some of the original values the Church at Southpoint put forth are still obvious in Small Ritual’s café project today: it is a comfort zone between the home and workplace, a true ‘third place’ stepping-stone to a socially conscious community. Some find it a collective living room of our community, a gathering place that welcomes all who walk through its doors, free of racial, classist, ageist, religious or political judgment: a place where the growth of ideas, and wellness of being are regularly encouraged and fostered to provide ways to serve eachother thus promoting community strength for all and a sense of belonging for any. Being personally involved with our customers allows us to stay grounded in this home and find inspiration. Fostering a trust relationship with our regulars enables our mutual education, which leads to value and support of our common goals. At SRCS we grow, learn and develop together with the community.

We are available to collaborate with other groups to recreate their own Small Ritual Coffee-like project. Our coffee is sustainably grown, ethically sourced, locally roasted, and prepared with pride. But it’s about more than just coffee. Every coffee, and every person has a story. We want to tell these stories, and we want to hear yours. Whether you want to grab a coffee on your way through, pause for a moment at the window bar with a paper, or settle into an armchair and make Small Ritual your third place, we welcome you.

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