Schools out, and these youth are ready to work. The Scoop is offering Indigenous youth in Saskatoon an opportunity for their first summer jobs, serving up ice cream.
The Scoop is a social enterprise, an ice cream shop that was set up to provide First Nations youth in the inner city a chance at their first summer jobs. The Scoop was created because the founder had noticed that First Nations youth in Saskatoon were having a hard time finding employment in the inner-city.
Step sisters Sharon Settee, 15, and Kari Fiddler, 16, are from Cumberland House, Sask. Both of them were hired for their first jobs at The Scoop last summer. They worked three days a week during the summer break in July and August, gaining new skills in the work force.
“I learned that it’s very hard having a first job, getting there on time, but I ended up doing it. I also learned that it takes a lot of responsibility and time. When I got home from work sometimes, I was tired so it took away from my energy,” said Settee.
Eve Wapash worked at The Scoop last summer. (Chris Randall)
The Scoop has added to the step sisters employability skills.
“I learned how to work a till. We had to do a food safety course in order to work there, that helped us with how to clean all the scoopers and the stuff we use to scoop ice cream,” said Settee.
‘Barriers to employment’
“We set up The Scoop specifically to hire First Nations youth, because we recognized that of all the population of youth in our city,they face the strongest barriers to employment,” said Chris Randall.
Randall has been working in Saskatoon’s inner city at a drop-in center known as Street Force for the last 14 years. He is currently the executive director at Street Force, which runs The Scoop.
Randall would often get requests from the youth at Street Force for employment references. He said the youth would then “be very crushed when they would go apply at different places in our city — whether retail places or fast food places, entry level jobs and not get called back.”
Glori Musqua and Eve Wapash worked at The Scoop last summer, Glori will be back again this summer. (Chris Randall)
Despite the barriers for employment, Randall said things are evolving.
“I feel like the attitudes (of employers in Saskatoon) are changing slowly. There’s more of an awareness of some of the issues that are happening in the inner city and also some of the issues that are specifically First Nations issues, with the history of colonialism, and residential schools and things like that”.
The Scoop will be open 6 days a week starting Monday, June 27.