[00:00:00] Elton Brown: Welcome to SpeakUP! International with Rita Burke and Elton Brown! 

[00:00:15] Rita Burke: On SpeakUP! International, we exist to help tell stories of individuals we refer to as community builders. Today, we're speaking with community builder Valerie Alphonso, who is the founder and director of Community Outreach Canada.

Valerie has experience in HR recruitment for over 20 years. She's also a consultant, offering series of workshops. and kickstart her own business. Valerie is also the founder of Second Chance, which she will tell us more about later. Please help us to welcome Miss Valerie Alphonso! 

[00:01:09] Valerie Alphonso: Thank you. 

[00:01:12] Elton Brown: Thank you for being with us during this joyous season of the year.

Can you tell me more about your experience? In HR recruitment for over 20 years and how it has influenced your work in Community Outreach Canada. 

[00:01:31] Valerie Alphonso: Thank you and for having me. Just present our agencies. It's a wonderful opportunity to be on this platform and I want to thank you for inviting me. So, to go back to the question you asked, I've had, um, I've been in the HR sector for a long, long time.

I used to work in the HR department for a corporate company, and at some time, Um, just before 911, I decided I wanted to do something different. And so I, uh, took a leave of absence from them and decided to start my own agency to help people just to help individuals that were having difficulty to find jobs.

And at that point, I realized that The demand was so great at the time that I had to start putting out, uh, short workshops on and educate individuals on how to actually look and prepare for jobs as part of a pre employment program. And that's what I did to get people started. And it started with a very small community in Scarborough, where they had about 19 shootings at the time in that area, and I decided, why not?

Educate individuals that that should really get more involved in the community and get paid for what they were doing. So I started to train them and give them computers as part of the initial, um, initiative to get them started. And that is how I launched. Uh, the agency called Community Outreach Canada.

That was way back in, uh, 2005, or maybe earlier. And I was doing this unofficially because I was still working at the time. So, I had to literally give up my job. And then people began to ask, do I have a website? And do I have my business card? And I had to recognize that, oh my gosh, now I've started a business.

And I need to to do something totally different. So I eventually had to put together a website. And that's when I officially launched and officially registered the business in 2007. But prior to this, I was in HR. Um, just, you know, wanting to help people out with the background and the experience that I had so that I could, um, train the younger folk and train individuals that were really looking for supports, but didn't know how and didn't know. Or where to go for these supports. 

[00:04:11] Rita Burke: It sounds as if you really are committed to helping people build and enhance their lives. Thank you very much for sharing that information. So you must meet many people in your role as recruiter. Talk to us about some of the fascinating individuals that you have met so far.

[00:04:32] Valerie Alphonso: Oh, it's, it's very, very, um, I, I say I have been blessed. I'm going to really put, put that word into context here because, um, you don't get this opportunity too many. Too many times to bless another individual, and that's what I look at it as. Um, I was given the opportunity to work with George Brown College as, um, just to support the individuals that had disabilities.

And that's when we first started with helping train individuals to go past GED. So I put together a team of almost 20 to 30 tutors who could come together with me. professional tutors who can help individuals with English and math and, um, culinary, etc. And I met a very, very interesting individual. He was Korean.

Um, he didn't speak. Um, he couldn't speak. He had a, uh, speech impediment, and he also had a hearing impediment, and he had done his culinary at George Brown College, and when he came to us, he said he wanted to, he wanted to work, but he didn't know how to get a job, and so I got together with a few chefs.

That were professional chefs who are going to Luxembourg, and I asked if they would take him along to give him the opportunity to see what a competition looked like, and they initially interviewed him, and they said they would be willing to take him, and they couldn't really understand him. So, they asked me to accompany them and accompany him to Luxembourg.

They had the world's competition in culinary, and, uh, whilst he was there, Oliver was his name, he was able to look at how exquisite Cuisine could become, uh, to a point of fine art within culinary. And so that became his foundation of why he wanted to become a chef. And we came back to, from Luxembourg to Toronto with gold medals and with, um, You know, with the bronze medals on behalf of Canada as a whole, and we were so fortunate to get this particular opportunity, and he was blessed because he felt that it was in getting this opportunity that he could start his own little business, and he started that in, I think, two years after we started the program.

[00:07:08] Elton Brown: I know that you are planning on offering a culinary workshop or a school. I saw that on your on your on your website. Tell us a little bit about that. 

[00:07:20] Valerie Alphonso: Right. Um, so that was basically the intent of we wanted to start a small culinary school. Um, where the individuals that just had the same skill sets, they were coming out of schools, they were coming out of colleges, they wanted to become chefs, or they wanted to become cooks, or they wanted to get into, you know, food prep and line prepping.

We felt that if they got a little bit of skills, With that with the chefs that we knew we would be able to give them certifications after 13 weeks and then put them into restaurants and and hotels so that they could eventually or to start their own businesses and we were successful in doing that with a number of different clients that came to us.

Most of our clients may maybe, um, uh, I would say a good 20, 25 percent of them have disabilities. So we are able to help them. overcome the challenge of having a disability and also working with, um, with the, uh, culinary school where they could get the program and then start their own business in culinary.

So that's what we have been doing so far. 

[00:08:34] Rita Burke: Well, Valerie, when we introduced you and a part of what we do in SpeakUP! International is to talk to community builders. It sounds to me like you're beginning with building individuals first and ultimately turns into community building. So I thank you so much.

Now, what would you say are three important elements to keep in mind when considering starting a business? Three important elements to keep in mind. 

[00:09:00] Valerie Alphonso: Right. So we many people feel that starting a business needs a lot of cash flow. They feel that they need a lot of experience and then they can get into business.

Really speaking, it's all about the idea. It's about the dream. Um, you know, when you have a dream and you can, you can start looking at that dream and expanding the dream into actuality and reality, then that dream becomes. something that's very doable. So we ask people to first give us an idea what their dream is about, what their passion is about, what are they hoping to do in life, and where do they feel they would accomplish that in the next few years, months, whatever the case might be.

Using the idea, then we create a business plan for them. And that business plan helps them to eventually go step by step into what would become the eventual business. So that would mean getting their business registered, getting them to know how sales work, you know what it is to market themselves, to have a brand, to have a name of the business, to have a business website, and then eventually having funding and model Of a business and who their competitors are.

So those are elements that would go along with a business plan. So the first thing is have a dream and what are you dreaming about? And then we put that into paper and eventually into reality. 

[00:10:32] Rita Burke: But Valerie, you keep talking about we, and I know this is not a solo endeavor. Talk about your staff. How many people do you work with?

And how do you get things done? Because you seem to do quite a number of things. 

[00:10:48] Valerie Alphonso: Yes, you're so right, Rita. This is not something that one individual can do. And the reason I keep saying we is because I do have a fantastic team. We've got experienced individuals. We've got professionals.

We've got consultants. They all come together as part of a team that can showcase approximately 30 to 40 years experience as a team. And that could mean, you know, in the career development area, in the life skill training area, in the Customer service training areas in the area of accounting, uh, as well as data entry.

So we've got teams that can and then we've got counselors, whether they're legal counselors, we've got counselors that can support individuals with, you know, just regular life skill coaching. Um, and we've got a great A team of about 22, depending on the actual project. We sometimes go up to 27. So that's part of our team.

Um, that includes everyone, including social service, uh, workers that come alongside us to help with, uh, second agency, which is called Second Chance. 

[00:12:02] Elton Brown: So Second Chance is what you call your business. Is that correct? 

[00:12:08] Valerie Alphonso: Correct. So that is a subsidiary agency that we created because it's a charitable organization and it's totally volunteer at this point.

So we have a lot of volunteers that come alongside us and help us. But the reason I created that particular agency is because. We felt that there was a need. Individuals had needs, and we, many of them didn't know. For example, we would put individuals into employment, but we would feel that for some reason they couldn't cope with the job.

They had other things that were going on behind closed doors, behind the scenes. Nobody else could, you know, would know about and they would fall from, they would fall through the cracks and then find themselves without a job again. And I felt people needed a second chance. No questions asked. And so we decided to create an arm subsidiary under the umbrella of Community Outreach called Second Chance.

One of the programs that we run currently with, um, disability as well as people on social assistance, as well as newcomers to the country. It's basically social services offered to them, whether it is, uh, essentials, whether it is food, clothing, housing, furniture, or you could come to us for legal supports and we would be able to put you in touch with the legal, um, Legal Aid or, or lawyers or whatever the case might be.

We could help you with record suspension, or we could help you with just counseling where you need someone, you just want someone to talk to. And that is pretty much what we've, uh, we've done. put together as part of a program that helps individuals, um, to overcome some of the challenges meeting their goals that they want to achieve.

And, um, I think that is, that is where I feel the biggest chunk of clients that come to us is for that, where they feel they need that extra helping hand. And they just want someone to give them a second opinion, maybe, or someone who can come alongside them and just give them that support. We help crisis intervention sometimes where individuals might come to us with suicidal, um, you know, thoughts, et cetera, and we help them through counseling.

And then we make referrals to other professional agencies outside of our agency. And we call that the Wrap Program. So we're wrapping them with services. 

[00:14:42] Elton Brown: Are these the services that you're offering these marginalized individuals? How are they responding to this type of work? What is the significant achievements that you can show from these impactful alternatives? 

[00:15:00] Valerie Alphonso: Right. So it's, um, so the, we cater to anyone. It doesn't matter who they are. Um, they could be coming from the disability community, or they could be from any diverse background. It could be seniors needing support. And we do have a senior program. Where individuals come to us twice a week, we will be starting that program next year where individuals can come to us for support and we group them with other seniors so they can have a partner to talk to.

They can have a buddy, and we call it the Buddy Connection. So they, they connect with a buddy, they have responsibility and accountability to that buddy. So that way, you know, they're not lost in the, in the whole scheme of things if individuals don't have. family around them, or if they don't have, um, uh, individual independent supports.

Sorry, we help them with support. Um, so it could mean individuals that are coming from the low income bracket. We cater to Toronto housing families. We also cater to the homeless. And I think the vast majority that I'm open to accepting is anyone that needs help. It's We're not just limited to certain groups, we are open to anyone that needs help.

[00:16:23] Rita Burke: So, Valerie, on SpeakUP! International, we seek to inform, to inspire, and to educate. And I think your responses are helping us to meet those goals. So last week, serendipitously, I ran into a woman. And it turns out that that woman is here as an asylum seeker. She had only been here for about four months. Is that the kind of person that one could refer to your organization to get some support?

Talk to us about that, please. 

[00:16:57] Valerie Alphonso: Yeah. So we deal with a number of clients that are coming into the system either as newcomers through the refugee program, or they could be coming in as landed immigrants. It doesn't matter. Um, wherever they need support, whether it is for, uh, transitioning into the, Local system, whether it is getting them registered for disability, or whether it is, uh, you know, they're needing some support through a legal process, which means that they need that lawyer or immigrant consultant to help them to overcome the challenge .

We would put them in touch with referrals that would be part of our connection or our contact list. So that is where we reach out or rather. I will put it the other way, where other individuals reach out to us for supports, and we will then look at their case, do a pre assessment of what their needs are, and then eventually, um, week by week, we have a 12 week step, uh, program, where every week, we touch base with them to find out how they're doing, have they met their goals, have they met the individual that has, you know, we put them and Touch with what was the outcome of the reach the, um, the goal that they set for themselves.

Are they needing additional support? Um, what are the or. This is that they could get into, uh, if they have a language barrier, then we put them in touch with one of our, um, actually, I would say, um, fantastic, uh, consultant who does accent training. Um, and so we would put them in touch with her. She does a short course, so it's all linked together.

And the more, um, individuals we have that can come alongside us to support these, the, the, the referrals we are getting the better for them. Right. So everyone gets a chance to, to then, um, dip into the client group that we have and give them the support that they need. In addition, we're also supporting the human trafficking and sex trade workers that are coming into the country.

So we've just, we are going to be having a conference in February on the 6th of Feb, and that will be with all the agencies that are going to help out with, um, supports and resources. 

[00:19:16] Elton Brown: Can you tell me how your organization could help the homeless? We know that in our community, or communities, There are homeless individuals.

So can you help a homeless person no longer be homeless and to find a steady job? 

[00:19:37] Valerie Alphonso: That's a very good point to bring up because we have had a number of homeless groups that have come to us. And so we connect with the Native Center to help some of the homeless there. Resources with tools with sometimes with food and clothing.

But in addition to that, if, for example, an individual says they are, um, they are not able to sustain themselves anymore because they've lost their job and they can't pay rent. We tried to get them support through different avenues. To see if we can put them back onto, um, Ontario works so that the rent could be paid or they could get into a shelter.

That's how we first start the process. We would put them into a shelter or maybe into a basement apartment if they can afford that. Then from there, we would help them with some of the tools where if it is a course that they would need to upgrade their skills or put them through Employment Ontario, where they could get the government to support them with a second career, which allows them to go through a course, get a certification and get a job.

So that is part of the process. Now, a homeless individual might also come to us and say, I have a family. It's not just me, right? I could have a family. What can you do for me? So that's where we would then look at the need, how old the children are, how young the children are, what type of home would they get into, put them onto a wait list with the City of Toronto wait list, which is currently 12 years, but at least if they're on that wait list, they get the opportunity of getting a home in the event something becomes available.

So there's various opportunities for people that are homeless to come to us for supports. 

[00:21:27] Rita Burke: Valerie Alphonso, you are overwhelming me with the number of balls you are juggling. Not only are you overwhelming me, but I'm impressed. Who or what would you say is responsible for the person that you are today?

[00:21:45] Valerie Alphonso: Um, let me put it this way. I have, I know people are not accustomed to hearing this, but I am going to put it out there. When you have a level of faith that I do, and, and you work with a God that is supreme, then anything is possible. That's his word. And I stand very strongly on his word. This is his company.

It's not mine. It is his word, not mine. It's his. Uh, it's my He's given me the talent to do what I'm doing today. And the only credit I can give anyone is my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now I know that People, uh, in this culture don't want to hear too much of that, but it doesn't matter to me because that's who I am.

Um, that's who I will be and that's who I would like to share my testimony with because the more people recognize that then it's impossible to become dependent on self. Many people have become have been successful and and ourself, you know, self motivated self everything. But in the end, we all are accountable for what we do.

And I feel that if I can give an account for supporting one individual and saying to one individual, this is my story, you can do it too. It's very possible that individuals that we come in contact with will receive that. And, and we'll have, you know, an opportunity to then take that same route and believe in a God who is not only there for all of us, but will make it possible when things are impossible.

[00:23:37] Rita Burke: So that's where you get your strength. 

[00:23:39] Valerie Alphonso: Absolutely 

[00:23:40] Rita Burke: Get your ability and you know what? We are non-judgmental and SpeakUP! International. So I'm glad that you felt confident enough to share that particular value with us. Thank you. 

[00:23:54] Valerie Alphonso: You're welcome. 

[00:23:55] Elton Brown: How can people in need contact you? How can they? Reach you and their time of need.

[00:24:03] Valerie Alphonso: Yeah. So we usually ask them to give us a call if they feel if they feel they want to speak to someone. And I can put up give you the information so you can put it up on your screen. We are communityoutreach.ca, which is our website. Our contact number is 416-271-9916 , there are prompts that can tell you which program you need and you can then redirect and speak to the individual looking after the program.

Uh, we currently run five programs. One is Disability, the other one is, um, the Rap Program or Social Services and a Second Chance. We also have a Customer Service Training Program. We have a youth, sorry, a Senior Program, which is starting next year, and we have a program to help, um, individuals that just need help, just, just supports, just simple supports.

So, depending on what they need, they can call the individual based on the extension. Second Chance, the website is secondchanceinc. ca. So they can, they can come to us via email. We have phone. We are also on Google so they can look us up on Google. We do have, because we are remote at this point, we are hybrid.

So we work, um, we work from home, but we also have opportunities where we go to the individual's community. So we, if they tell us, you know, we're having difficulty and we need some support, can you come and help us? We actually take our vehicle and go to the individual's area. We try to meet them in a parking lot that's closest to a Tim Hortons or whatever, and we connect with them.

In addition to that, we also have a, um, an option for them to come to our office and to pick up a small gift basket. If they're new to the country, we give them a small gift basket of hygiene products and clothing so that if in case they need something and they're new and they don't have it, that's where they can come on Fridays.

We're there from one o'clock in the afternoons by appointment only. And in addition to that, we also have an option for virtual. So we can do a Zoom call with them, and if they're outside of Toronto, we can have a virtual call with them. 

[00:26:35] Rita Burke: So it is obvious that your faith system grounds you and gives you the strength and the capacity and the ability to do what you're doing.

That sounds awesome. Now, Valerie, what would you say is the best piece of advice you've ever been given? 

[00:26:57] Valerie Alphonso: Um, you know, the best piece of advice have always come from my own parents. Um, integrity, hard work, um, make sure that you are able to do what you say you can do. Don't overdo and don't over say. If you can't do it, Don't say you can do it.

So there's the integrity part of it. There is also hard work that you have to put into into a business like this because keep in mind when you become an executive director, you are now having to put a lot of time and effort into how do I pay my staff? How do I pay the individuals working with me? How do they become Uh, competitive and and also happy to work with us.

Happy to partner with us. Um, they should have, uh, the ability to say, you know what we want to do business with you and I've never had in. I mean, I have people who are 70 at this point and still want to work with us. Which just goes to show that they're enjoying what they do, and that's where I always say, my advice to you is enjoy your job.

Enjoy what you do. And that's what I, that's my advice to others.

[00:28:15] Elton Brown: Your work is wonderful. I can see that you do this with much joy and love for your communities that you work with. So how long would it take for an individual to go from needing food to be able to Stand on their own two feet and get their own food and whatever they need for themselves and their families?

[00:28:47] Valerie Alphonso: Um, everything depends on the individual. It's all about an individual's need to fulfill their own, um, requirements. their own passion, their own abilities and their own goal setting. So it's all dependent on them. I could have someone come to me today for, um, food. And become self sustaining within a month, if they are able to get take a job and retain that job.

But then there are some that have more needs than others, and they would need some additional handholding, uh, some additional supports, resources, tools, um, which takes a little longer. And I, I don't have a Uh, a time frame for that. I give them a one year opportunity to come back to me so that they have the required supports.

So, in, in the event that someone comes to me today. I will give them an opportunity to come to me for support for 1 year and in the event that they feel they still need to come back to me after that. The more than welcome. We don't have a restriction on how much of supporting they would need or how much of support we can give them.

But I think the main piece is. How can we really help you achieve that goal and and get to the level that you need to be? Um, I think that becomes very difficult for individuals that might have other things going on in life. Um, but for those that are determined, I see achievement very, very quickly. And I, it, it really helps me to then put them on a platform that says, give us your testimony so that others can see what you've done and, and hear what you've done.

 Automatically, you feel and you feel encouraged, you feel enlightened, you want to do the same and that's what I encourage with most of our clients. Tell others about how you've made it so that, you know, they get encouraged because sometimes someone just needs a story and they hang on to that story or they need a word of encouragement and they hang on to that word of encouragement.

So that's, that's how we've done it. Yeah.

[00:31:02] Rita Burke: So you had a full time job, you were working with a company, and then you transitioned and made a 360 into becoming a community builder. I take my hat off to you. Would you then say, Valerie, that there is a book or a course that changed the trajectory of your life along the way?

[00:31:25] Valerie Alphonso: There was a book written by, um, Dr. Miles Monroe. Uh, he had a very powerful book, um, that I had read and it's all about leadership and how do you get to where you need to be? Who are you as a person and who are you created to be? And I think that was one of the books that really put, uh, uh, put me up to the challenge because I felt that if I had the talent, why was I underestimating myself and if I could do it, I was going to do it and make it big.

Um, but I still don't see myself that way. I don't see myself, um, as a, as a. As an influence, uh, influencer or, uh, or a leader, but when people tell me that that's who I am, I acknowledge it because, um, I want to acknowledge then the giftings that God has given me, uh, and that is key to the success. You can't just take the credit yourself.

You have to remain humble all the time, and it's in the humility of individuals that I feel we can achieve a lot more, um, because you've never reached your final moment, you're always perfecting yourself, but he perfects it for you, and that's what makes it successful, that's what makes it, uh, that's what makes who I am, me.

And I want to encourage people to, you know, just stay humble, keep learning. There's always opportunities to become the individual you need to be. I'm never going to be Rita. I'm never going to have the skills as Elton, right? I will always be the person I've been created to be. But who is that person? And what can you showcase?

Um, and what is it that others need from you that you can give? Uh, without wanting to find out how much, you know, you're going to charge for it. When you do it with compassion, when you do it with joy, when you do it with love, you don't need the revenue for it. You don't need to be compensated every time you do something.

You're doing it and you will be doubly rewarded for what you do. Uh, I think when I first started, just to give you, do I have time? Okay. Um, uh, I have a, um, a story to tell. When I first started in the community, and I was in this neighborhood, uh, in Scarborough, where they had these 19 shootings, I went over to Zella's at the time, um, many, many years ago, and, uh, I told them that I wanted, uh, some gifts.

Christmas was around the corner, and I said, can I get any toys that you can give me? Because I have a community in this neighborhood that could use some of the toys, and they've got Kids that, uh, there's so much of, you know, insufficiency in that community. And they, they said, who are you? Which agency do you represent?

And I said, I'm Valerie Alphonso. Do I need to have a company? And they said, yes, you do have to have a company. But, um, he asked me to wait at the, at the desk and he went over to the back and he gave me a signal and said, bring your car to the back of the, uh, to the back of the building. And I had a two seater car at the time, and I took the car to the back, and he was giving me a crate full of toys.

And I said to myself, how am I going to take this because I have such a small car? He said, you asked for it. This is what you're going to get. And I just thought to myself, if this is how God is going to promote His work, In the community, and I need to do more of this. That was my first encounter with the community and and to see the response and to see how God had done it just blew me away because I felt now this is telling me that I can do more and that's how I advanced.

That's how I, uh, you know, I Push myself forward to say that it doesn't need to I don't need to have money to start a business. I can just have a good heart, but it's not about good works. It's, it's about how you can present, um, present the author and the finisher of my faith. And, and that's what is more important to me.

[00:35:47] Elton Brown: I noticed on your website that you actually have like little mini newsletters or articles, such as Essential Services, you have a Legal Clinic. And then there's like Coaching and Mentoring, and you also offer job listings. If you go through the newsletter, will that, would that make you eligible for the jobs or those two, uh, pieces of support are separate?

[00:36:22] Valerie Alphonso: They're all interlinked. They're interlinked. So how we would actually work with the individual is when they come to us, we would find out what the need is. Depending on the need, we will then train them, we would give them the supports they need, and then eventually put them into pre employment. Um, and then give them a job.

So the we've connected with the diversity employers so that they can offer the jobs on our website and the clients that we have can view the website and then apply for the jobs accordingly. So it gives them a first hand, um, you know, insight into what's available, then going to every single company, finding out what jobs are available this way.

They get a. Quicker way of searching for jobs. And we do a job search workshop. We do, um, we offer, um, HR support, which means we talk to the employer and we ask them if they would give our client, uh, our clients an interview process and see if there is an opportunity for them. So we go the extra mile to do that extra step.

And, um, so they are all interlinked. The agencies are interlinked.

[00:37:32] Rita Burke: So, Valerie, again, I say I'm happy that we decided to invite you to SpeakUP! International. Is there anything that we have not asked you that you would like to share with our audience? Um, 

[00:37:46] Valerie Alphonso: I would, I would like to, there's not much else I would like to say about the company, but, um, or the agency. But I would like to say there's huge opportunities to volunteer.

And this is where I would say take advantage. If you're a student. Come contact us. Take advantage of the volunteer opportunities. Take advantage. You will get experience. You can put that experience on your resume. You can, uh, come to us as a senior and volunteer in our, um, food program or our clothing program.

Um, it gives a chance for you to meet others to network with others. Um, get involved with our programs itself and see where it can connect you to, um, you know, other resources that you might need or workshops that we offer totally free of cost in partnership with the city of Toronto in partnership with the federal government.

Um, to know about various things, whether it is debt management, whether it is scamming seniors, whether it is, um, you know, vaccines and what kind of vaccines and help you need to be a part of how do you keep yourself healthy, how do you eat healthy? So we've got a number of different workshops that we offer through.

Various sources, and so we tried to build the community, uh, with depending on what they come to us for. But I would say, take advantage. It's a free opportunity. We don't charge anything. If you need counseling again, come to us, talk to us and, um. We'll be able to help you if it's if it's food. Uh, we usually redirect individuals to the food bank, but sometimes we do get donations of food and we are willing to give that to the individuals.

We have a food program that we will be distributing approximately 100 food baskets to some of our clients that have registered with us. So we will be doing that either closer to Christmas. Sorry. Closer to New Year or after New Year. So that's what I I would like to share. 

[00:39:55] Elton Brown: What are your future projects?

What are you dreaming of adding to the support services that are established? 

[00:40:07] Valerie Alphonso: Uh, I do have one vision that I would like to accomplish. Um, which is, um, most of the individuals that come to us, know that we exist and they can, you know, get the supports that they need. However, there are individuals that don't even know about us and I want to put out the word there that even if you want to come to us as to do an orientation, to network, to just be a part of our community.

You know, that's what I, I would like to do. Make the buddy connection, something that people are accountable to each other for. Uh, I am establishing a, um, um, a call center that will allow people to call in and get similar to 2 1 1, similar to, um, to, what shall I say, uh, the nine, uh, nine. Eight. Eight. So 2 1 1 is.

Where you can get a list of all the service service providers across Canada, so just go to 211. ca and you'll get all the service providers. So that is one avenue that I want to look into to see if there's an opportunity for partnership. The other opportunity would be, uh, if in case you have a mental health issue or a crisis situation, don't wait till the end.

I'm asking for people to reach out prior to if they see an individual, if they know of a child, if they know of a family member that is going through difficulties and and Can't cope with stress and cannot cope is going through depression. Don't wait, you know, reach out and see where we can support you guys because that is where I feel many individuals fall through the crack because they don't know who to contact and where to look for help.

Um, and so I want to put out the name there so we can make the right referrals. And that's where I think, uh, this is a absolutely good question that you've asked. Because I think many people don't know where to link the bridge. Uh, so my supports would be, my vision for this would be to see how we can make the referrals quickly, faster than, uh, what it's currently, you know, people are going through.

[00:42:29] Elton Brown: I must say. You have a comprehensive package that you provide to the community. You give education, training, food, mental health avenues, anything and everything, even for the homeless. You, you have a, you have an answer for that. And I think that this is extremely promising. And yes. I do agree with you that a lot of people fall through the net and they don't know how they even arrive there for the, for the most part, and I'm just hoping that individuals are able to pick this information up and disseminate it to individuals that need your Bye. Your health and I've written down, uh, like your phone number and the website that you mentioned, because that information I can certainly pass on to other individuals that I may run into that are in. Need of your services, whatever that may be.

So I want to thank you so much for joining us today, having this conversation with us. And I definitely want to talk to you again in the near future. 

[00:43:52] Valerie Alphonso: Thank you. I 

[00:43:53] Rita Burke: echo, I echo what Elton has said and I extend blessings for your Christmas season and I thank you so much for being a part of SpeakUP! International.

[00:44:07] Valerie Alphonso: Thank you so much for having me Elton and Rita. And I would also want to just add one more line in the event that, um, there are individuals or companies or corporate heads that would love to, uh, support agencies like ours. I would love to see, uh, you know, them reach out with us, even the smallest donation because every dollar counts.

We give a 50 gift card to people that don't have Anything. And so there are times when I'm on the street and you know, I'm reaching out to individuals and for me not to to be able to give someone something. Uh, it's difficult. And, and again, I just want to say, you know, even a dollar counts when it comes to, uh, and, and if people want a receipt, we have an option for, because we are charitable, uh, in status.

So we would be able to give a donation receipt. So anyone that wants to contribute, please feel free. Thank you so much for having me. And this was a wonderful. 

[00:45:11] Elton Brown: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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