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The region’s largest mental health organization is ending a 12-year-old program that employed people with mental health issues, a move it says is necessary as it faces a $2.6-million deficit.
Canadian Mental Health Association Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services is winding down Impact Junk Solutions, a junk removal business it launched in 2012 to help people with mental health concerns gain meaningful employment.
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“It’s really disappointing and it’s been quite a stress for the last couple of years, starting in the pandemic,” said Karna Trentman, director of community programs at the local CMHA branch.
“It worked for a really long time and but was subject to pressures in the economy. . . .We gave it our best try to keep it going.”
The pandemic-related downturn had a significant effect on Impact Junk Solutions, a social enterprise with environmental and social goals in addition to financial ones. The company, which charged customers $125 to $400 plus tax a load, also focused on recycling and repurposing items retrieved from clients.
Impact Junk Solutions lost a major contract with a property management company that offloaded half their buildings during the pandemic, Trentman said. For the last year, the local CMHA attempted to develop the business, chase new leads and promote it to the public, Trentman said.
“Unfortunately we didn’t see a really big uptake,” she said.
Facing a $2.6-million shortfall in its budget year that ended March 31, the local CMHA chapter was unable to continue the business, which was no longer self sustaining, without adding to the deficit.
“If it had been another time, we probably could have floated the social enterprise for a little while and give it a year, with all this promotion, to see if things picked up,” Trentman said.
“But given our other financial issues, it wasn’t doable.”
The team leader of Impact Junk Solutions will be redeployed to a new role within the local CMHA branch, Trentman said.
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The janitorial segment of the Impact Junk Solutions business, workers who cleaned the local CMHA’s various facilities, is remaining because provincial funding pays for such services, Trentman said. The organization is seeking new opportunities for the four casual workers whose roles with Impact Junk Solutions are ending, she said.
In response to its budget shortfall, the agency announced in June it would cut 30 full-time positions in its workforce of 700 to balance its books. The local CMHA also reduced its 18-member leadership team to 10 people.
As it winds down operations, Impact Junk Solutions is holding a garage sale on Sept. 18-20 for items in its warehouse at 527 South St. from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
While it’s the end of the road for Impact Junk Solutions, Trentman said other social enterprise opportunities within the local CMHA are possible in the future.
“We have done it before and have a really good model,” Trentman said. “We could do something similar to this again with another business.”
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