This study focusses on the social context in which supports are made available to be taken up and therefore recasts supports as social supports. In doing so, this research builds on the wealth of theoretical and empirical research on social support as a foundation on which to initiate further theory specific to the ways work-centred social supports can potentially lower barriers to employment and improve the health and well-being of workers and training participants of social purpose enterprises. For this study, coordinators, managers and directors of social purpose enterprises, primary social support providers themselves in many cases, have served as informants on the types and availability of social supports, as well as their relevance to the work and personal outcomes of employees and training participants in these organizations.