Stella’s Circle, is a leading non-profit community organization in St. John’s, Newfoundland, has started a new social enterprise initiative called Clean Start Commercial Cleaning that helps individuals gain necessary skills so they can obtain work in the cleaning and maintenance industry.

Oil company Chevron Canada recently donated $450,000 over the next three years to help Stella’s Circle run CanDo, an employment service that was created for individuals with complex multiple barriers to employment. Clean Start was incubated from the CanDo program and is now a stand-alone commercial cleaning business and new social enterprise. Participants who face barriers in their community will receive complete on-the-job training with a team leader from the organization.

Participants will also learn about back injury prevention and receive training in the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System standard.

Stella’s Circle works with hotels, but mainly with private office and retail businesses, as well as non-profits. Clean Start employees can expect to clean offices, bathrooms, stairwells, floors and windows.

According to Marlayne Hardy, marketing manager at Stella’s Circle, the skills people learn can lead to a career in cleaning or other areas of employment. So far, feedback from facility managers has been encouraging.

“As the word continues to grow about Clean Start, we are hearing from more organizations who want to partner with us,” says Hardy. “For employers, it is win-win. They help improve the local community by giving individuals a hand up, not a hand out, while having their business cleaned professionally, on time, and at a competitive price.”