3.1 Read About Social Responsibility

3.1E Youth Movement - Hope Blooms

This next two lessons feature texts (video, articles) that shows us how people (including youth) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, have responded to the question: How can we contribute to community and care for the environment?

Hope Blooms has received National and International Awards and recognition including being named one of Canada's top Changemakers for 2015; The Ernst and Young first place winner for Social Entrepreneurs of the year for Atlantic Canada 2016, and Innovator of the Year 2017 from Halifax Assistance Fund to name a few. They were also named one of the top 10 pitches of all time on the national CBC television show Dragons' Den. 

Hope Blooms is a social enterprise in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

A social enterprise improves the well-being of people or places, and sometimes also builds job skills, and even friendships. 

From Amazon.ca (description of the book, “Hope Blooms”): There is an old saying that it takes a village to raise a child, but Jessie Jollymore has experienced through the youth of Hope Blooms, an inner city initiative she founded that engages at-risk youth, that sometimes it takes the children to raise the village. A dietitian who worked in inner city health for 15 years, Jollymore witnessed the challenges people face every day with food security, isolation, discrimination, and poverty. An idea bloomed of creating sustainable, youth-driven micro-economies: growing local food systems, growing social enterprises, and mentoring youth to become leaders of change. This led to over 50 youth ages 6 to 18 leading the way in growing over 3,000 pounds of organic produce yearly for their community, building innovative outdoor classrooms, and building a successful Fresh Herb Dressing social enterprise, with 100% of proceeds going toward growing food, and scholarships for youth.

Hope Blooms is a social enterprise they built from the soil up, in which youth experienced the struggles of "creating something from nothing," successfully navigating the world of business, and ultimately building resilience and leaving behind a legacy. 

How did this happen? 

A pitch is a presentation of a business idea that needs money to put their idea into action. Investors who listen to the pitch sometimes allow others to use their money in exchange for a share of the profits (money made). Usually, it is adults giving a pitch.  

On November 14, 2013, six youth from Hope Blooms pitched on Dragon’s Den, a show where people ask for investments in their business idea. The Halifax youth from Hope Blooms asked for $10 000 in exchange for 5% profits, in order to build a greenhouse that would allow them to grow their produce year round.

1. Before watching the video, in your Learning Guide, record the definitions of social enterprise and pitch. 2. Then, as you watch the video, learn more about the story of Hope Blooms and whether or not they succeed in securing $10 000 from the investors of Dragon's Den. 3. Summarize the result of their pitch in your Learning Guide.

Watch what happened (you may have to sit through a short ad, first):