Last year, I read an article about a new social enterprise in the UK: a casino where the profits are used to fight gambling addiction.  Yes, you’re reading that right—and it does actually exist.  Caesars Palace is a part of Hospitality & Grow‘s £6m seafront complex in Great Yarmouth, where the long-term unemployed will receive jobs and training and profits will be used to prevent and treat gambling addiction.

My initial reaction upon learning about this casino was disbelief, followed by indignation.  I’m a strong proponent of social enterprise, but surely this venture took the concept too far.  ”Problem Gambler Cured by Social Enterprise Casino” would make a good headline for The Onion, right?  But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve started to wonder whether it really is such a terrible idea.

First of all, is a new casino likely to create or further gambling problems?  The National Council on Problem Gambling asserts that “the casino or lottery provides the opportunity for the person to gamble.  It does not, in and of itself, create the problem any more than a liquor store would create an alcoholic.”  I generally try to defer to the expertise of others in areas where I know little to nothing, but it seems to me that at the very least, we have to consider liquor stores and casinos enablers of their respective vices and the negative individual and societal consequences that result.  I think it’s fair to assume that at least a few problem-gamblers-in-waiting will become problem gamblers as a result of having access to a new casino.

But remember: this isn’t just a new casino, it’s a new social enterprise casino, whose profits are directed to the work of another social enterprise, Count Me Out, to prevent and treat gambling addiction.  Assuming that Count Me Out’s programs are indeed effective, the question now becomes whether the profits generated by the casino enable Count Me Out to reduce the incidence of problem gambling to a greater degree than the casino’s presence increases the incidence of problem gambling.  Also, since treatment is available on premises, the casino functions similarly to a “wet” shelter for homeless alcoholics or a needle exchange program for drug addicts, providing an opportunity to mitigate collateral damage and provide the addict with access to resources to address their problems when they are ready.  Better for an addict to get his fix there, in an environment designed to minimize abuse, than at another establishment which aims to capitalize on his vulnerability.

If that were where the equation ended, I would make the case that, at best, the casino might turn out to be slightly better than a wash.  However, Hospitality & Grow are also using the casino to provide accredited training, life skills, work experience and employment opportunities to disadvantaged populations, including ex-offenders, people with disabilities, and the long-term unemployed.  On top of that, the casino helps to drive more customers to Hospitality & Grow’s complex which includes four other social enterprise businesses, all of which provide similar employment and training opportunities, among them a 66-room hotel that is being renovated to serve people with special needs and generate environmental benefits.  Surely the social and economic value created by providing such substantive opportunities to these populations both directly and indirectly is enough to tilt the balance firmly, if not emphatically, in favor of the casino having a net positive benefit.

A case can be made that the resources Hospitality & Grow is directing to the casino could be better used to create similar social benefits in another type of business that isn’t centered around such ethically dubious activity.  I’d much rather see employment-focused social enterprises like the catering businesses run by DC Central Kitchen and the Pine Street Inn, the landscape services and bakery businesses from Rubicon Programs, or the maintenance, fulfillment, and other businesses run by countless NISH affiliates.  But the fact is, the decision-makers at Hospitality & Grow saw a casino as the most promising social enterprise opportunity given their location, resources, and the synergy with their existing offerings, so they went with it.  I’m still not 100% convinced of the concept, but at this point, I’m inclined to be supportive and to applaud Hospitality & Grow and its parent, Grow Organization UK, for having the vision and strength of conviction to launch such a seemingly counter-intuitive venture with the potential for both positive social impact and financial sustainability.  We may not need social enterprise casinos to proliferate, but we do need more leaders in all organizations and at all levels who are willing to give ideas like this the consideration they deserve.

(Photo credit Social Enterprise)