BottleWorks is a social enterprise of Operation Come Home (OCH), an organization that supports homeless and at-risk youth in Ottawa and accross Canada. Bottleworks was founded in 2008 under Executive Director Elspeth McKay, as a way to generate revenue for the organization. The social enterprise has been studied as an example by social enterprise development organizations around the world and has consulted with organizations seeking to emulate the model for themselves.

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BottleWorks employs youth who face barriers to accessing community employment. Youth employees are recruited from Operation Come Home's variuos programs as well as by receiving refferals from other agencies and youth applying on their own. Youth work in the program on a rotational basis to allow us to support the many youth that apply. Each youth is provided with three to six months of paid employment in the program as well as counseling, educational support, housing support, and more. Participants can continue to access these supports after they've completed their rotation. At the end of their rotation, participants work with staff in developing their resume, practicing job interview skills, and preparing to enter the traditional workforce.  

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OCH operates a second social enterprise, FoodWorks, located at 571 Gladstone Ave. Like BottleWorks, FoodWorks offers supportive employment and wrap around supports to OCH recruited youth in preparing restauraunt and catering dishes for customers. All revenue go towards the program and 100% of the profits go to OCH's many programs and services. To learn more about Operation Come Home, Click Here