Social Enterprise

Striving to foster a safe and economically vibrant neighborhood, the Coalition for Responsible Community Development was founded in 2005 to improve local planning, development, and community services for low-income residents and small businesses in South Los Angeles. CRCD Enterprises, a social enterprise wing of the organization, was formed in 2010 to act as a job creation engine. Approved by the Better Business Bureau, CRCD Enterprises offers multiple services, including graffiti removal, decorative painting, moving and hauling, maintenance, and power washing and sand blasting. Read more about Coalition for Responsible Community Development...

Working with individuals who have developmental or other disabilities in Hawaii, the Arc of Hilo strives to improve their quality of life through training, employment, and residential opportunities. Benefiting 230 clients and employing more than 80 people in its Employment Training Service programs, the Arc of Hilo generates 49 percent of its revenue stream from business service contracts and fundraising, up from 25 percent just five years ago, significantly reducing its dependence on government support. Read more about Arc of Hilo...

Located in lower Manhattan and started by former workers of a World Trade Center restaurant in 2006, COLORS is a nonprofit-owned social enterprise, run by the Restaurant Opportunities Center which provides living wage jobs and professional development training for workers, while serving customers healthy gluten-free food. Read more about Colors...

Housing Works aims to end the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS through advocacy, service provision, and entrepreneurial businesses that sustain its efforts. Since its establishment in 1990, it has housed and/or provided services to over 20,000 people. Its job training and placement program which uses social enterprises including supportive housing apartment rentals, a bookstore and a thrift shop to underwrite the group's programs and help clients achieve self-sufficiency, earned about 40 percent of its revenues (more than $22 million) from its businesses in 2013. Read more about Housing Works...

Focused on addressing the system of generational poverty, violence and neglect in the New Orleans area, Reconcile New Orleans offers youth ages 16-22 from at-risk communities life skills and job training programs so they can make positive changes in their lives.  Opened in 2000, its nonprofit restaurant, Café Reconcile, provides culinary training, and following Katrina, the nonprofit added a construction program to create additional training opportunities and help the rebuilding effort.  Located in the Central City neighborhood, Reconcile New Orleans has graduated more than 1,000 young peop Read more about Reconcile New Orleans...

Urban Ventures aims to close the gaps that perpetuate urban poverty.  A key part of its approach are social enterprises, which it uses to provide education and training to youth and families, as well as to generate revenues to fund its youth and family focused programs/services.  Its five social enterprises include CityKid Greenway Café, which sells beverages and affordable produce, and provides free summer meals to children; CityKid Mobile Market, which sells subsidized fresh, pesticide-free produce in food deserts; CityKid Java, which sells coffee to area businesses and organizations; CityKid Farms, which grows and sells fresh produce; and CityKid Honey, which produces raw, local honey.

Founded in 1903 as a residence for blind women, the Center currently provides over 15,000 sight-impaired people annually with training and support for independent living, orientation and mobility instruction, vocational training, job placement, counseling, recreation and youth services. They are also a manufacturing center for pressboard and manila file folder products, which provides employment opportunities for the blind and visually impaired. Read more about Clovernook Center for the Blind and Disabled...

Chrysalis helps economically disadvantaged and homeless individuals become self-sufficient through employment opportunities. To this end, Chrysalis runs Chrysalis Enterprises, an in-house staffing business that provides street and building maintenance, janitorial, warehouse, front desk and general staffing solutions to over 100 communities and businesses across L.A. County.  In 2013, Chrysalis Enterprises provided $2.7 in wages to over 500 of its clients. Read more about Chrysalis...

Belay Enterprises was started in 1994 by a group of local businessmen, community leaders, and pastors who wanted to make a difference for the urban community.  Out of their vision grew Bud’s Warehouse, a home improvement thrift store selling donated and recycled building materials that also provides career and life-skills training for individuals seeking to rebuild their lives.  With the profits from Bud’s Warehouse, the nonprofit has been able to incubate several other businesses, several of which have been spun off after reaching self-sufficiency.  Current ventures being pursued by Belay Enterprises include Purple Door Coffee, a coffee shop that provides supportive employment to teens and young adults facing homeless, and New Beginnings Custom Woodworks, a cabinet manufacturing enterprise that provides training and employment to those who have experienced prison, addiction, or homelessness.