Providing support to the front line - The Seeking Help Project

Interested in starting your own journey in a non-profit organization, but not sure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Eric Cashmore, founder and executive director of The Seeking Help Project, from Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

Tell us about the organization

We are a national nonprofit dedicated to assisting front-line service providers with mental health and addiction issues in Canada. Our clients are social workers, first responders, nurses, outreach workers, teachers, and other community heroes.

Tell us about yourself. What motivates you each day to do what you do?

I became a front-line worker in 2010 in the HIV/AIDS sector using my skills / lived experience learned by living on the streets and being HIV positive. I struggled with mental health and addiction issues when entering the workforce and came out publicly as a drug user in 2014. At that time, I realized that proper support for people with addiction and mental health services must be handled and advocated for outside of the organization where people work. For that reason, I founded the Seeking Help Program in 2015 and legally incorporated it as a national nonprofit through Corporations Canada in 2020 at the start of the pandemic to help as many people struggling as possible.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Our partnerships with other nonprofits, community organizations, and corporations are our most significant success. We've also been able to assist over 500 people across Canada effectively. Our organization has no paid staff and is entirely reliant on a small group of volunteers who work diligently with us because they believe in what we do and what we're trying to accomplish.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

We have no funding currently to do our work and rely entirely on donations. The COVID crisis has created an enormous increase in demand for our work, but we have received no increase in funding. We understand that people's finances are tight, so we do what we can to assist as many people as possible.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Have a clear goal.
Develop a plan.
Create partnerships; the more people you can work with, the better served your clients will be.

I started from literally the streets, using drugs and doing sex work in Toronto. I was lost and almost gave up all hope. If I can create a nonprofit to help others achieve my goals, others who struggle with a dream can do it. You only fail when you quit.

Where can people find you and your organization?

Website: https://seeking-help.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeekingHelpProject
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/PvgLDE1fjNKXn8ev9
Phone: (705) 806-0978
Email: admin@seeking-help.com

If you like what you've read here and have your own solopreneur story that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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