Si Se Puede Women’s Cooperative, We Can Do It! Inc. is proud to be part of a growing national cooperative movement. “In addition to providing meaningful jobs and asset-building opportunities for workers of all income levels, worker cooperatives can play an important role in building movements for economic justice and social change: as institutions where real democracy is practiced on a day to day basis, they are a model for the empowerment we will need to create the change we envision.”
Examples of some cooperative businesses and organizations that inspire us are:
Green Worker Cooperatives is an incubator for worker cooperatives that are good to the earth. They are building a movement for a different kind of economy, one built on environmental justice, empowered communities, and democratic workplaces in the South Bronx.
COLORS is a worker-owned cooperative restaurant located at 417 Lafayette Street in Manhattan. The Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York works to advocate for improved working conditions for restaurant workers citywide.
Cooperative Home Care Associates
Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) is a nationally recognized, South Bronx-based owner home care agency. Founded in 1985 to provide home care for clients by providng quality jobs for paraprofessionals, CHCA now anchors a national cooperative network generating over $60 million annually in revenue and creating quality jobs for over 1600 people.
The Workplace Project (Centro de Derechos Laborales), founded in 1992, is a membership organization that unites immigrant workers and their families for better working and living conditions. It is dedicated to fighting the exploitation of Latino immigrants on Long Island and to achieving social justice through full political, economic and cultural participation of those workers in the communities in which they live.
WAGES (Women's Action to Gain Economic Security)
The mission of WAGES is to promote the social and economic empowerment of low-income women through cooperative business ownership. Our unique strategy is to develop eco-friendly housecleaning companies that provide stable, safe and dignified work for their worker-owners while protecting the environment in which we live.
And here are two businesses we've helped to inspire:
BeyondCare is a worker-owned, women-run cooperative child care business that provides safe, stimulating supervision by trained, loving child care workers while promoting personal growth and educational opportunities for its members.
Emigre Gourmet
Emigre Gourmet Cooking Collective offers catering, cooking lessons and market tours specializing in the cuisines of Asia and the Middle East. For more information, please email emigregourmet@gmail.com or call 718-633-4823.