About us
The Raging Spoon is a small business with a social conscience. The Spoon, as it is fondly known opened its doors in 1997, in an old Church in Parkdale where several nonprofit and community-based groups collaborated to serve the needs of the Parkdale Community where issues of poverty, mental health and substance use were rampant.
The Raging Spoon is pictured at 761 Queen St West in a former Church, established in 1997, offers good food, at a fair price and is an operation of Working for Change, an organization that advocates for employment opportunities for psychiatric survivors and emphasizes the importance of work in the lives of people who have been marginalized by poverty and mental health issues
Over 25+ years of operation, our community has grown and we apply the word “survivor” to include and embrace people with lived experience of homelessness, incarceration, varied forms of disabilities, gender based violence, trauma and refugees who are new to the country. We understand that mental health, trauma and substance use can intersect with a range of living experiences plunging people into poverty, and our goal is to center these voices and bring them out of the margins. We apply racial and gender equity frameworks to our hiring practices, and the majority of our staff are on social assistance. Our model is unique in that our founders, our leaders and ALL our staff are Survivors - people with these lived and living experiences, demonstrating what is possible when community takes power into its hands to address its own needs.
We believe that employment is a direct pathway out of poverty and into a life of autonomy and dignity. We provide this employment through the sales from our enterprise to provide work for people who are very distanced from the labour market because of discrimination, stigma and an unwillingness to really meet people where they are at. We believe that building a parallel economy is critical to ensuring that all those who want to work, can find work that supports them on their journey. Your support of our business is what ensures that we can provide this critical employment service for our community.
Working for Change
The Raging is one of four “consumer/survivor” run Social purpose businesses operating under the umbrella of Working for Change.
What is a consumer/survivor? A consumer/survivor is self-defined: someone who has been institutionalized by the psychiatric system or treated by mental health staff in the community—a consumer of services or a survivor of the medical/mental health system.
Why Consumer/Survivor Controlled Businesses? People with mental health and substance use struggles are often told that they are incapable of working. Some are placed in vocational rehabilitation programs where they may earn less than minimum wage or apprentice for long periods in unpaid training programs. However, these programs still do not provide the participants with real work experience or a clear pathway out of poverty. Other employment initiatives that target people with disabilities may place individual survivors in a work environment where other people know the person has been labeled as “mentally ill” , “disabled” or an “addict”. This can also contribute to an uncomfortable and deeply disempowering experience for people who are already vulnerable. In contrast, businesses managed and staffed by survivors offer a very different work environment, one that is developed and managed with peers. People who have ownership have self-respect. As one employee says: “It makes you stronger and more confident; the group creates a synergy. People are willing to take risks and feel proud.”