The Raw Carrot serves up gourmet soup — and jobs

An inviting smell of roasted vegetables and spices cuts through the chilled air, leading to the basement of Paris Presbyterian Church, where the flagship location of The Raw Carrot operates.

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The social enterprise employs adults on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), providing them with work, while creating gourmet soup sold through farmers markets and major grocery chains like Sobeys.

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In 2014, executive director Rebecca Sherbino pitched the idea of ​​making something from the kitchen of the church — where her husband Joel Sherbino is a pastor — when her young friend Amanda McNamara was struggling to find work.

McNamara, who has a developmental disability, took a soft-skills training program at an employment agency that led to three interviews, but no job offers. It left her “devastated,” Sherbino said.

Sherbino started to hear from other individuals in a similar situation — folks who can and want to work, “but they require a supportive environment,” she said.

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On ODSP, a single person without dependents receives a maximum of just over $1,300 a month. That’s just $100 more than the $1,200 median rent of a one-bedroom apartment in the Brantford area in October 2022, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

However, folks on the program are permitted to earn up to an additional $1,000 a month through work without it affecting their income support.

But employers often aren’t able — or willing — to make the accommodations necessary, said Sherbino. For instance, one employee at The Raw Carrot occasionally has schizophrenic episodes. “Your average employer does not want to deal with that,” Sherbino said.

In addition to employing 32 permanent part-time staff across four locations — in Paris, Mount Forest, Stirling and Innerkip — The Raw Carrot has around 60 volunteers, ready to step in and keep up production until regular employees are able to return, should they need time off. In a traditional workplace, this would generally not be possible, Sherbino said.

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McNamara — who still works at The Raw Carrot — said if she weren’t employed, her days would be long and loving. “I like coming to work here because it’s like a big family,” she said.

The Raw Carrot has now grown to become what Sherbino calls a “social franchise.” They act like a consulting agency, supporting other organizations who want to follow their model, enabling more folks to have the “dignity of work,” Sherbino said.

At this point, their partners have all been churches, because faith groups tend to already be invested in outreach, and have a commercial kitchen available during the week that they are willing to donate, Sherbino said, adding “we’d love to partner with other organizations and are exploring various options.”

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At an event The Raw Carrot hosted earlier in October in celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, County of Brant Mayor David Bailey praised Sherbino for her work.

Speaking with The Hamilton Spectator following the event, Bailey described what Sherbino has built as “magical.”

“I’m so supportive of it,” he said. “I have a real soft spot for people that need to be lifted up. And I think that’s what they’re doing.”

Celeste Percy-Beauregard is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

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