Inclusion West Niagara Wins $25,000 Grant to Launch Raw Carrot Social Enterprise
Updated
Updated · St. Catharines Standard · Jul 8
Inclusion West Niagara Wins $25,000 Grant to Launch Raw Carrot Social Enterprise
1 articles · Updated · St. Catharines Standard · Jul 8
Summary
$25,000 from the David S. Howes grant will help Inclusion West Niagara open a Raw Carrot franchise, its second social enterprise aimed at creating paid work for clients with developmental disabilities.
The funding lets IWN train and employ participants to make soup while teaching basic job and business skills under Raw Carrot’s break-even model, which is designed to support minimum-wage jobs.
Raw Carrot, founded in 2014, now operates six kitchen sites in Ontario and Manitoba and has created 46 permanent part-time jobs for people facing barriers to employment.
IWN already runs Well Preserved, a preserves business launched in 2018 with 10 clients, and sees the new venture as a way to serve people who need more person-centred employment support.
The grant comes from a fund created after a $19 million donation in 2017; more than $1 million has gone to 16 Niagara charities in 2026, including IWN.