Client Success Story
Challenge
In 2018, the special agency of CSC that’s responsible for an offender employment and employability program, known as CORCAN, started a beekeeping initiative as part of re-opening the penitentiary farms at its Collins Bay and Joyceville institutions.
CORCAN approached ACCT to help develop beekeeper training and deliver it in person to inmates.
Insight
ACCT connected with a subject matter expert who had experience as a beekeeper and teaching a related program of part-time studies at Algonquin College.
This individual also had experience dealing with people affected by PTSD and other emotional issues and quickly saw how he could connect with inmates through beekeeping.
Solution
A two-day Urban Beekeeper workshop was developed as a precursor to a 10-week program with sessions that covered bee biology, farming practices, environmental factors related to bee health and general lessons on beekeeping.
A total of nine workshops were delivered, and almost a hundred inmates participated.
Result
Interest in the program is such that it has grown from two hives to 34, and recently an institution in Manitoba started a third program with the assistance of CORCAN.
Knowledge gained from the experience in Ontario — including the workshop training delivered by ACCT — continues to play a role in the program’s popularity and success.