In 2019, Fleurish started out as a simple flower shop, providing beautiful floral arrangements to the community. Since then, it has expanded into a successful social enterprise thanks to the leadership of founder and executive director Emily Day.
Day’s passion for empowering women and hope for everyone to reach their full potential inspired her to add the Fresh Start Internship Program to Fleurish.
When customers purchase from Fleurish, they are also supporting this community initiative that helps transform the lives of women. The Fresh Start Internship Program provides women in the Barrie community who face work-related challenges with the opportunity to grow and develop their employable skills.
Day has worked for almost a decade as a florist and interior designer, all while supporting vulnerable women in the community. She has worked with clients of the Pregnancy Resource Centre, Redwood Park Communities, as well as vulnerable teens.
“Life can be unfair sometimes. I know that I’ve been blessed to have a supportive husband and support from family and friends, but I know that that’s not always the case,” Day shared.
“Our goal is to help people in a practical way through job training and to give them a space where they can work through their anxieties and grow their confidence. It gives them a chance to be self-sufficient and independent,” she said. “Our space is like a family where individuals can feel safe and confident and like they can do anything.”
Her dream for Fleurish is to continue assisting women who have survived situations of trauma and abuse and help them to rebuild their lives.
This heartfelt mission has proved to be deserving of this year’s Community Builders Award for Economic Development.
“I’m very grateful and very surprised,” Day said when she learned that Fleurish had been chosen.
“This means a lot to us. It's not easy to run a social enterprise and a non-profit organization. It encourages us to know that our efforts to help women are being recognized,” she said. “Hopefully, this will raise awareness about Fleurish and help spread the word and let people know that we’re here.”
Fleurish recently celebrated its fifth anniversary and the team is proud of how far they’ve come since starting out.
“I’m proud that we’ve made it this far, even through a pandemic. We’ve managed to keep running and to keep hiring new interns,” Day shared.
“We love hearing about our interns getting a job or getting rewarded at their job, knowing that we made a difference in their lives,” she added. “Those are some of the proudest moments for us.”
So far, Fleurish has successfully trained 30 women and hopes to continue improving its program to welcome more women in the coming years.
The Economic Development award goes to an individual or group that has had an important impact on the economic well-being of the community. They have chaired and led a committee, they have helped bring new business to town, or they are responsible for putting in place infrastructure.
Congratulations, Fleurish!
This award is proudly sponsored by Aerarium Group.
