Background Information:

             In the spring of 2003 the Waterloo Region  MEDA chapter board was interested in looking for a local project which would enable chapter members to exercise their Christian faith in the local community in a practical and meaningful way.  After further investigation, it was proposed that we look into the possibility of bringing the MEDA ASSETS program to Waterloo Region.

            ASSETS ( A Service for Self Employment Training and Support) is a comprehensive 10 week business training program, to provide training for individuals to develop their own individual business plan to start or expand their own micro business.
           
            In the fall of 2003 it was decided to form a committee to look into the feasibility of bringing an ASSETS program to Waterloo Region. It was not the intention of this project to compete or duplicate what was currently available to people in the area, but rather to provide the program to groups of individuals that were not being serviced or were under serviced

.  Donna Jean Forster (who was originally from south western Ontario and worked in the Miami ASSETS program) was hired to complete phase 1 of the business case study and depending on her findings to then complete a phase 2 study.

            The results of the phase 1 study indicated that in order to participate in the existing programs in Waterloo Region, an individual would have to be on some sort of government assistance in order to qualify.  Some of the programs had expensive tuition fees, which many individuals could not afford.  There were several groups that were identified such as women, refugees, new Canadians and the working poor who may not be able to access the current programs.  It was decided to proceed to phase 2 of the business case study.

            Phase 2 of the study looked at sources of revenue and developed a preliminary budget for the project.  Originally it was proposed that the ASSETS program would be a stand-a-lone program, which meant that the entire project would be the responsibility of the local MEDA chapter members.

            Around this time, MEDA suggested that any new ASSET programs should try to partner with other community groups to provide the service rather than having the local chapter do it on their own.  The new program was to be known as ASSETS +.  The feasibility committee agreed that this may be too big a project for the local chapter to develop on their own. 

            The feasibility committee had discussions with several local non-profit groups after which a partnership between MEDA, The Working Centre and the local MEDA chapter membership was established. 

            The Working Centre currently operates a number of initiatives that try to develop personal and entrepreneurial skills of individuals such as paper making, bicycle recycling, employment counseling, and computer training to mention just a few.  They are also looking to develop a community kitchen where individuals could rent time in the kitchen to cook food for catering events or to sell on a small scale basis.  The ASSETS program would help to develop skills of these individuals.

            MEDA International operates over 12 ASSETS programs throughout the United States.  They provides printed material such as an Operations Manual for all start-up projects, The Foundations Business Training Program used by class participants and a Facilitators guide for the class instructor.  As well, MEDA provides a resource person throughout the first year to help with the start-up of the project.

The Working Centre provides in-kind support.  The program operates from one of the buildings at The Working Centre.  The Working Centre provides the administration support for bookkeeping and accounting, receptionist, as well as the telephone system and access to a bank of computers, which could be used by the participants to help them develop their business plan.  The Working Centre also dedicates a half-time employment counselor to the project to act as the Support Facilitator. 

The local MEDA chapter members will provide a minimum of $50,000 financial support during the first year of operation out of budgeted annual expenses of $120,000.  The chapter members also provide volunteers to act as mentors to class participants and graduates of the course.

The Mennonite Savings and Credit Union (Ontario) has agreed to provide micro financing to the graduates of our course.  An initial loan of $500 is payable within 6 months and a second loan is available in the amount of $1,000 which is payable within 1 year.

Waterloo Region ASSETS Project has a staff of 3 consisting of the Program Coordinator who oversees the project and develops community links.  This individual reports to an Organizing Committee which provides overall direction for the project, a Support Facilitator who offers support in various ways to participants and graduates of the program and a Classroom Instructor.