Two weeks ago, Coast Reporter ran two important stories about homelessness on the Coast. What was most surprising about these articles was what I did not see after they ran: not a hint of public discussion – not a single letter.
So this week, let’s talk productively about this issue – more specifically, its related root causes: disability and unemployment.
When I refer to disability here, I refer chiefly to mental illness and mood disorders. In a community already challenged by high unemployment, folks living with a mental illness face seemly intractable barriers.
It is understandable how a sense of defeatism can set in. With rental for even the most marginal housing on the rise, and the number of entry-level jobs declining, a person facing mental health problems can be forgiven for feeling that there is no hope.
However, I am pleased to report that there are local solutions, which require reaching out – on the part of both job seekers and employers. It takes a little digging, a bit of elbow grease, but there are opportunities on both sides.
Probably the best thing a person living with a disability can do first off is to check out the Open Door Group, which has offices in both Sechelt and Gibsons.
Open Door is much more than just a place with job postings on the wall – though there are those, too. And while it might do more by way of outreach, Open Door offers a pretty impressive array of in-house services and resources for job seekers living with a disability.
These services are important when one realizes that maybe one in five available jobs is posted; the remaining four have to be found by other means – means that have to be learned.
The intake process at Open Door may be ponderous, for some. But that is just the reality when public funding is involved. This taxpayer money pays for job-readiness workshops, skills development and training (college courses, for example), and transportation assistance, to name just three areas of support available.
I mentioned a sense of defeatism among job seekers. In my interviews for this column, this feeling sounded most often like this: “Who wants to hire someone with a mental illness? They’re too scared. They think I’m unreliable.” Or worse.
A little digging around revealed to me just the opposite is generally true.
Talking with about a dozen local business owners and managers, I found a real willingness to take on employees living with a disability. Not all of these businesses are small. I discovered at least three large, local employers who take a very open and enlightened view to their hiring practices.
(I won’t identify these employers here, but readers can contact me at [email protected] for more information.)
I mentioned at the top that any solution to the related problems of unemployment and disability will require reaching out on both sides. I have also identified a possible broker for that activity.
We are a small community with one employment service. Job seekers need to follow a process to become ready for suitable employment, and employers willing to take on workers living with disabilities need to make themselves known and to become active partners in the jobs process.
