Hiring People with Disabilities is a Sound Business Decision: Employment is Looking "UP" for People with Disabilities

 

[Article from Medicine Hat News Bi-Yearly Career Feature 2014]

 

When Michael Callahan, an expert in the field of employment of persons with disabilities came to Medicine Hat last fall with the message “Employment for All”, there was an enthusiastic response from employers, service providers, individuals with disabilities and their families. Callahan shared his strategy of discovery and how to use it to gain an understanding of the talents and capacity of people that can then be marketed to employers to fill unmet needs in their businesses. This customized employment approach is welcomed at a time when labour shortages are in the headlines and people with disabilities still struggle to be seen as having something to offer.

 

Taking this approach, Being Human Services in Medicine Hat launched its “Untapped Potential” (UP) program in November 2013 and has already helped 11 participants connect to employment. The program provides a combination of individual support along with group instruction along with job development for work experience and job placement/job coaching supports. Two of these local participants, Randy Immel and Jacob Raby offered to share their stories.

 

Since 2006, Randy was unemployed and had given up on finding a job. Rather than focusing on Randy’s developmental disability including poor vision and some health issues, “UP” took stock of Randy’s positive qualities, past successes and strong desire to become employed landing him a job with Re-Store. Randy soon put his skills to work and applied his hand-on approach to work by re-furbishing products brought into the store and re-selling them to customers. Re-Store Manager, Josh Hopkins is happy to have him part of the team and states,”We had a need and Randy filled it. The fact that Randy had a disability never played a part and additional work supports were not needed. The staff are a team, they joke, play and laugh together…Randy can dish it out and take it just the same!” 

Randy says that he enjoys meeting people and the variety with the job. He is learning new things every day and enjoys spending time with people and staff. He has greatly improved his enjoyment and participation in life and feels good about himself. 

 

Another successful “UP” participant named Jacob had struggled in maintaining a job after leaving high school. An avid gamer, Jacob was hoping for a future as a Beta Tester for video games. Kari Godlonton, Job Developer at Being Human Services says “When Jacob’s mom approached me, she was frustrated with employers who weren’t willing to work with people and their disabilities. She was upset that he was never given the opportunity to work with his strengths or given time to figure things out.” After entering the “UP” program in February 2014, Jacob began to educate himself on the local job market and began to expand his career choices. After completing the classroom portion of the program, Jacob found his own job in fast food but chose not to access Job Coaching support. Unfortunately, the demands of the job overcame him and he returned to Being Human Services to access the supports he needed. Randy now works at Petsmart in an environment he enjoys with a strong team of colleagues and has been offered full time employment. Jacob states, “I totally feel better about myself. The staff are friendly and I get lots of help from the management team who make me feel accepted and supported.” Teressa Muglia, Operations Manager at Petsmart states, “Jacob has grown in this work place. Always willing to help out and jumps into any area where he is needed.”

 

Behind every one of the successes in the “UP” Program at Being Human Services are a team of people who have the training, knowledge, and experience to provide essential supports to ensure a good fit between the employee and employer. Helping people to look beyond the barriers and to understand how they can apply their skills and talents to the workforce have led to inspiring results.