Faithventure Forum

But work well done is also bounded by times of rest. As we ready to start a long Labor Day weekend, this prayer reflects the beauty of both work and rest: Let me but do my work from day to day,    In field or forest, at the desk or loom,  In roaring market-place, or tranquil room;  Let me but find it in my heart to say, When vagrant wishes beckon me astray, “This is my work; my blessing, not my doom;  Of all who live, I am the one by whom  This work can best be done, in the right way.”  Then shall I see it not too great, nor small,  To suit my spirit and to prove my powers;  Then shall I cheerful greet the laboring hours,  And cheerful turn, when the long shadows fall  At eventide, to play and love and rest,  Because I know for me my work is best.   Poems of Sentiment: VI. Labor and Rest Henry van Dyke 

This month, Sunshine Gospel Ministries opened Greenline Coffee , a new high-end coffee shop in the disadvantaged Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago’s South Side. Sunshine hopes the new coffee shop combined with its business incubator, Sunshine Enterprises , will start growing jobs in the neighborhood with traditionally high rates of unemployment.  Greenline hires young adults from the neighborhood who have completed the Sunshine Summer Jobs Training program. Sunshine's Executive Director,  Joel Hamernick, explained in an interview in DNAinfo Chicago his thoughts behind the creation of Greenline: He said two years ago, he and others at the nonprofit were frustrated that five years of teaching kids entrepreneurial skills had not produced a single business in the neighborhood. He said they switched to asking some of their supporters for investments instead of donations and started thinking about how many jobs a coffee shop would create in the glazed-brick building....

I had the pleasure to present to a social enterprise gathering hosted by a fantastic new organization in our community, The Denver Institute for Faith and Work . I've been meaning to write a post on this topic for awhile so it was timely to be able to present the following: People don't like ex-offenders coming into their home The social enterprise business needs to lead the mission A lot of people enjoy talking about social enterprise but very few actual practitioners (And a bonus point) Social enterprise is hard work Be sure to check out the Denver Institute's website here . Three Things I've Learned After 20 Years of Social Entrepreneurship - Jim Reiner from Denver Institute on Vimeo .

Later this fall, Belay Enterprises  celebrates its 20th Anniversary of offering employment and job-training in its home improvement thrift store, Bud’s Warehouse and its five other employment training business start ups. Over the years, Belay has served hundreds of individuals looking to rebuild their employability while dealing with addiction, homelessness or prison. The organization plans to mark this 20 year milestone by growing employment opportunities for the people it serves and by hosting an anniversary banquet. Like any new social enterprise, the Belay story is one of ups and downs. In 1994, a group of Christian businessmen and urban pastors, all with a heart for urban Denver, began meeting under the leadership of  Mile High Ministries . Out of these discussions grew Belay and its desire to impact the employment side of poverty. The organization's first project was Bud's Warehouse, a home improvement thrift store that recycled leftover construction and home...

My friend Chris Horst is becoming a prolific writer with the publication of his newest book, " Entrepreneurship for Human Flourishing ," co-authored with Peter Greer. This compact book provides an extremely powerful argument that business entrepreneurship enables human flourishing for the poor far better than charity. The book shares a mix of stories from entrepreneurs around the world making the case that business development creates opportunities for better lives. I must admit I am a bit biased because the book focuses a few pages on our newest Belay Enterprises ' project, Purple Door Coffee , lead by Madison Chandler and Mark Smesrud. It's fun to see their hard work and great results for homeless young adults get highlighted. Overall this book is perfect for individuals exploring entrepreneurship as a way to create opportunity for the disadvantaged. Get your own copy of the book here .

Graduates from a Cultivate Holland Class Poverty fighting jobs are created by thriving businesses in disadvantaged communities.  With that premise, Cultivate Holland, LLC , a Holland, Michigan faith-based non-profit organization, provides twelve-week classes for urban business people to help grow their ventures in order to create more jobs for disadvantaged individuals. As its website details: Cultivate Holland, LLC is focused on providing the tools with which you can begin to grow or start your business and eliminate poverty in Holland and beyond.  Your success begins by attending a series of coaching and mentoring meetings designed for business owners and entrepreneurs.  Studies have shown that businesses can  increase productivity by 26%  when the ownership or management receives and implements proper training.  This increased productivity is achieved through training and mentoring without the expenditure of any capital.  With increased pr...

In less than a month, the job-training participant is ready to graduate the six month program into a job in the community. Over the last few months, he has been a model employee who achieved much on the job after not working for 5 years because of prison and addiction. All of the sudden, the problems start. He begins to be late for work after being consistently on time. He gets into an argument at home and misses work because of a day in jail. The list of troubles grows to the point where he is fired only weeks from a successful graduation. Self sabotage. It's a discouraging reality in employment training businesses. And, unfortunately, it is not rare. Over the years, I have seen this pattern repeat causing introspection and a loss of confidence for leaders of such projects. But while self-sabotage happens, there are steps a program can take to lessen its prevalence and its negative effects. As a leader, one must never take it personally when self-sabotage occurs. In a cr...