Grimm's Story: Community, Food, and Creating Change

Grimm was born in Alert Bay, a small island off the coast of Port McNeil, but he spent much of his life moving back and forth between Alberta and BC. From working with a successful theatre production company, touring with a band, to carpet installation, gas station management, magazine printing, comedy touring, and more, Grimm has gained a plethora of experience over the years. 

In 2012, Grimm, his wife, and their one-year old child moved to Australia. For six years, Grimm and his family lived in a poor town in Australia, supporting the community by starting a free market, fixing bikes, and doing other general handyman tasks. While helping fix a roof one day, Grimm fell two floors onto a pool deck, breaking his lower back. He was lucky to be alive but, unable to work, his marriage began to suffer and eventually they returned to Canada before parting ways. He moved into an apartment with his daughter in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) and continued his long road to recovery. 

Despite doctors' predictions that he would never walk again, Grimm refused to accept that fate. He worked diligently on his rehabilitation, and after some time was ready to return to work. Living in the DTES, he knew about Mission Possible, but was unsure if it would be too physical for him. "My esteem was very low because of the injury. It felt like all the things that I had been able to do were slipping away," he shared. One of the coaches at MP told him to give it a try, and in November 2023 he joined the Employment Readiness Program on the Clean Team. 

Grimm was keen to do as many shifts as he could when he started, sometimes working five days a week. However, he soon realized that his body needed more rest in between shifts, so he applied for one of our Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) where he worked two shifts a week. He enjoyed the familiarity of the route and the connections he made with people, and with the extra time he was able to continue volunteering. 

In his community, Grimm volunteers in many ways, including managing a local online Gift Group, participating in Adopt a Block, and sitting as president of his community garden. He also found time to help out at MP as the Community Pantry Volunteer, accepting food donations and organizing the shelves to ensure associates had a pleasant and dignified time accessing the food. Volunteering and activism are integral to Grimm's values, and he believes both are extremely vital to our world. Being able to help others without the expectation of repayment is his way of contributing to social change, sharing, "In our money obsessed world, if I'm able to feed someone I don't know and not expect to make a buck off that transaction then I'm a rebel."  

Recently, thanks to additional funding, Grimm is now able to help MP's Community Pantry in a paid role as our Community Pantry Associate. Since his contract with the BIA had ended, this opportunity allows him to continue supporting our food security programming three times a week while still earning a paycheque. He shares, "It's nice to still see a few faces that I can say hello to and stop and chat with and get to know and, with the food, that affords me the ability to get to kind of know everybody, because everybody eats, right?" Food is an important focus for Grimm, as it helps him build community while supporting people struggling to make ends meet with the high cost of living. 

With his new contract as Community Pantry Associate ending in December 2024, Grimm knows he needs to start considering what to do next. His coach and job search team have helped him keep his resume and cover letter current and shown him resources to search for work, but ultimately Grimm would like to become a supervisor at Mission Possible. The reduced physical demand of this role means he could work full-time hours and ultimately stop receiving income assistance. He believes his experience as a manager and history with MP would be mutually beneficial, and he knows that he wants to work in a supportive non-profit that benefits his whole community. We are confident Grimm will continue to be a supportive member of any team, no matter what his future holds.