Benedic Dasalla gets to do something he enjoys every day.<\/p>\n
In his position as an event manager for Club Demonstration Services (CDS), an Advantage Solutions<\/a> company, he\u2019s constantly interacting with teammates and the public, supervising product sampling demonstrations and events at Costco warehouses in the Vancouver, Canada, metro market.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery day is different,\u201d Dasalla says. \u201cMy work gives me emotional and physical fulfillment, as well as financial stability.\u201d<\/p>\n The rewards of the job go well beyond a paycheck for Dasalla, who just eight years ago was homeless.<\/p>\n In 2015, at age 21, Dasalla was adrift. He didn\u2019t have a job, and he was in debt due to a combination of family and personal issues. He recalls aimlessly riding the city\u2019s Skytrain, searching for hope anywhere he could find it. On that train, he saw a poster advertising a hotline for young people in need. His next phone call changed his life.<\/p>\n On the other end of the line was Covenant House Vancouver<\/a>, an organization that provides shelter and support for young people throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America. There, Dasalla found not only a bed but a community.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember it was November and it was cold,\u201d says Dasalla. \u201cThey said they might have a bed available if I could get there by 11 a.m.\u201d<\/p>\n Dasalla says that when he got to Covenant House, he saw many young people who he felt were worse off than himself, including those with substance-abuse and mental-health issues.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of them were dealing with worse things, so I didn\u2019t feel like I was really deserving of this service,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI told my case worker that I was only going to stay for three months because I didn\u2019t want to be a burden. She said to me, \u2018Why are you in such a rush?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n His three-month plan became a four-year journey. After aging up through the organization\u2019s youth program, Dasalla continued on at Covenant House through its Crisis Shelter Program and, later, Rights of Passage, a longer-term residential program for young adults who have transitioned out of a crisis shelter.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was during those years at Covenant House that Dasalla, who immigrated to Canada with his family from the Philippines when he was 12, says he began to truly find himself. \u201cWhen you\u2019re young and move to a different country, that shock of values and culture, you’re just kind of at a loss,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is a completely different world with different values and beliefs. Between family issues, financial issues, homelessness, it was a challenge to find my real self.\u201d<\/p>\n With the new stability he found at Covenant House, he left the program and found work, first at a tea company, and then a float spa, before learning about product demonstration openings with CDS at Costco in 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seemed like a cool job, and I have a background in food, so I got the interview and was hired as a field advisor,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI liked that you get to work with so many different people.\u201d<\/p>\n Dasalla proved to be a perfect fit, earning his first promotion after just one month on the job.<\/p>\n \u201cCDS helped during my stages of independence out of the Covenant House transition program,\u201d Benedic says. \u201cAging out was a stressful and uncertain time, and it helped to work at a place that I loved showing up to and genuinely enjoy. This is the first work where I don’t dread showing up every morning.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Four years later, Dasalla still says he has a \u201ccool job.\u201d He\u2019s become friends with many of his coworkers. He loves interacting with his team and with shoppers, and he\u2019s proud to \u201clead by example,\u201d showing CDS sales advisors the value of customer engagement and providing them with a unique experience.<\/p>\n But what energizes him more these days is seeing the evolution of both CDS and parent company Advantage Solutions as businesses that echo his own values.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed my job, but even more so over the past year as I\u2019ve seen transformation at Advantage and the new values that have been put into place,\u201d says Dasalla. \u201cIt\u2019s great because these are the kinds of things I think about when I work: being more human-centered, not forgetting about people and serving with heart. It\u2019s invigorated my desire to work for the company.\u201d<\/p>\n And it\u2019s provided him with community.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first moved out of Covenant House, I felt like I lost a community,\u201d he says. \u201cBut at CDS, I\u2019ve become friends with a lot of my coworkers, in a workplace I value. It\u2019s kept me stable and kept me going.\u201d<\/p>\n And it allows him the time and opportunity to give back. Dasalla knows what it\u2019s like to be homeless, and he has made it a mission to support young people who struggle like he did. He helps with fundraising events, speaking about his experiences in public forums, and participates in the local version of Sleep Out<\/a>, Covenant House\u2019s global movement to shine a spotlight on and help end youth homelessness. (Each November, Covenant House also holds an Executive Sleep Out in major cities during which business leaders tour facilities and spend the night.)<\/p>\n \u201cHomelessness can happen to anyone, and we need programs and services from private to public sectors to work together,\u201d he says. \u201cI would not be where I am today if Covenant House didn\u2019t take me in when I needed it most.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBenedic is such an inspiration,\u201d says Deb Lester, who is CEO of Covenant House Vancouver and has joined Dasalla at speaking events. \u201cHe is a natural leader, and his approach of leading with compassion provides a safe space for authenticity and vulnerability. We need more leaders like him.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps most rewarding for Dasalla has been helping young homeless people get back on their feet by helping them get jobs at CDS.<\/p>\n \u201cAs an event manager for the past two years, whenever I need to hire, I always reach out to Covenant House first,\u201d he says. He seeks referrals for people who are reliable, independent workers and are willing to learn.<\/p>\n During Dasalla\u2019s tenure, he\u2019s hired several former Covenant House residents at CDS. And while some move on to attend school or pursue other opportunities, he says, \u201cI\u2019ll hear back from some of them saying, \u2018Hey Benedic, can I come back?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n That kind of payback is its own reward.<\/p>\nFinding Stability and a New Path Forward<\/h2>\n
Leadership, Purpose, and Building Community<\/h3>\n