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An initiative is looking to increase employment opportunities for youth with disabilities.
And on Jan. 10 at the Lethbridge Lodge, the WorkAble Project Labour Market Study will host a job fair and conference to discuss government and community support for businesses to hire youth with disabilities, employers in southern Alberta who are successful in hiring youth with disabilities as well as youths with disabilities looking for employment and the opportunity to learn new skills.
“We found in the city that there are some employers that have done a wonderful job of hiring people with disabilities,” said Fred Nowicki, one of four project co-ordinators that also includes Velda Sjovold and Kimberly Schermers as well as president Verna Masuda. “On the other side of the coin, we also discovered there are number of employers who maybe haven’t thought of it or are unsure of doing that because they don’t know all the processes. What we’re trying to do is connect the employers with service providers in the city, of which there are about six, who support people who are looking for employment and have various kinds of disabilities.”
At the same time, WorkAble — funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Youth Awareness — strives to dispel such myths that employees with disabilities have a higher absentee rate, are not reliable and always need somebody to help them.
“There are people in the city who are visually impaired or hearing impaired or may suffer from epilepsy or be dyslexic who are highly skilled and capable of holding down certain jobs given the opportunity. We’re trying to bring that front and centre,” said Nowicki. “We’re also talking to the service agencies and saying to them ‘When you go and try find employment for an individual, what are some of your challenges and things you have to overcome?’”
The job fair will consist of a panel of two employers who have hired people with disabilities over a long period of time, said Nowicki.
“We’re going to have two representatives from the service providers that promote youth with disabilities for employment. We’re also going to have two individuals who have disabilities speak about their employment and the importance of their employment to them in terms of their well-being and their self esteem. We want to bring an orientation to this.”
The ultimate goal, said Nowicki, is to give Lethbridge and southern Alberta the reputation of being a place that is accommodating to employing those with disabilities.
“I would like to brand Lethbridge and southern Alberta as community that is welcoming and a community that is inclusive and a city of preference,” he said. “If I was a young adult with a disability I would want to live in this area because I would know that this community would allow my child or young adult to join the mainstream of society and be accepted by their colleagues and peers.
“It can’t be six service agencies or 10 service agencies and the WorkAble to do this. It really has to be the community at large, employers and citizens thinking ‘We have to start thinking about addressing the needs of these individuals along with solving some of our labour shortages.’”
There are plenty of potential employees with disabilities that can thrive in the work place, said Nowicki.
“We know of a young lady that is highly skilled and could probably work in the front end of an office. She’s physically disabled and can’t move as fast. We know of a young man who is highly capable in the technology field and has all of the certifications and hasn’t got a job. We know of a young man who has experiences with schizophrenia who has an engineering and drafting background and is not able to find employment. And yet, these people are highly skilled, capable individuals. We just have to broaden the thinking process of our community at large.”
Nowicki stressed the WorkAble program is not being judgemental toward local employers.
“We just want people to think about this at a higher level,” he said. “It’s not just convincing the employer. The employer also has to have their employees on their side. It goes beyond just the employers, it has to go to the employees, too.”
The community support of the Jan. 10 conference has been strong.
“We have a couple radio stations giving us a good deal on the promotion. We’ve been invited to speak to three different Rotary clubs in town,” said Nowicki. “We have been told there are some families that have actually cancelled or delayed their holidays to attend our conference. We have to really encourage employers to say this is worthwhile to give up a day of their time to hear what’s going on and see if they can become one of the employers in the city that will support and add to what we’re doing.”
The conference runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“From 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. there will be a walk-around period where people can talk to the agencies and get an understanding of what kind of service they can provide and how they can seek financial support from government to hire people with disabilities,” said Nowicki.
The conference will also feature “What’s In It For You?” with guest speaker Jeff Coffman.
Those wanting to reserve seats before Jan. 4 can call 403)-381-6320 or email
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The conference is free to attend, but there is a cost of $15 for those wanting the lunch.
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