With employment program funding in jeopardy, clients and supporters sing its praises

For many clients of the Green Bay Supported Employment Corporation, their work is more than a  job. It's a career, a personal achievement, a sense of purpose.

But all those things may soon be stripped away, following a funding cut by the federal government. 

Kem Young, manager of the employment corporation, says they remain optimistic that a solution will be found to keep the work going.

"Moving forward, we're being positive, and I'm feeling very positive that this will be resolved," Young told CBC News this week.

Detailed in this year's federal budget is a $625-million cut to the Labour Market Development Agreement, which funds community support organizations that help people find jobs. For Newfoundland and Labrador, that means a loss of $16.5 million a year. 

Employment corporations can still draw from the $142-million pool the province gets. The provincial government has topped up the feds' share until the end of June, but the future of the employment corporations beyond that remains uncertain.

For clients and their families and employers in the Green Bay area, it's a devastating blow.

Alisha Young wears many hats at the Icecap Youth Centre in Springdale. She handles social media for the non-profit, organizes programming and plans events. There's nothing about the job she dislikes.

"I love getting to hang out with the kids, getting to know the youth in the town," she said. "I love that when I'm not at work that they notice me and we stop and have chats and I feel like I can be a safe person. I also really enjoy working with other kids with disabilities."

Young has been a client of the employment corporation since 2019.

"If I were to enter a building, the first thing that an employer sees is my wheelchair, not my potential," she said. "And as sad as that is, it's the truth. So, a program like this, I'm able to get into the workforce and not be discriminated against, even if it's not intentional."

Young says she will be devastated if the funding dries up, adding it will cost the government in other ways.

"The money is going to be spent in mental health services, it's going to be spent in housing services, because a lot of us aren't going to be able to afford our rent. It's going to be subsidies for our light and power bills. It's going to be … spent anyway. So why not put it somewhere where the people are able to feel like they belong, to feel like we have a purpose?"

For the past two years, Isaac Chaulk has been a cleaner for the town of King's Point. He takes care of the fire hall, primarily, and does some janitorial work around the RV park, as well as other odd jobs in the community.

Before that, he worked in Springdale, but he says his current setup is more enjoyable.

"Well, I meet new people. Every day is a different experience of cleaning and that. And, you know, me and [my support worker] always joke around or trying to make fun and just getting out in the community."

WATCH | 2 people explain why a supported job program is so important: 

This program employs people who feel discriminated against — but it could be axed

6 months ago

Duration 0:46

Alisha Young loves her job at a youth centre, and Isaac Chaulk is kept busy as a cleaner and handyman for the Town of King’s Point. But federal funding cuts mean the program that connected them to their jobs is in jeopardy. Young and Chaulk say it would be a big blow.

Chaulk loves small-town living, and when he goes to work, or sees members of the community out and about, it breeds familiarity.

"I'd like to be there forever," he said. "You know, enjoy it to the fullest. [Even] if i was offered another job, I wants to keep this one because you gets out in the community and I get to help."

In King's Point, the town has two clients of the program. Superintendent Boyd Tucker says it's a win-win situation.

"I hope the program stays in place, and actually, for me, I would like to see the program go bigger," Tucker said. "I'd like for the government to invest more into it so we can get more of these people. And for the town of King's Point, I mean, we're diverse, we don't care what people are, we're likely to hire them on and do what we can do."

Small communities such as King's Point rarely have any extra cash flow, he said, so when they can available of a program that splits the wages of employees, it can help a lot.

"If you didn't have that [some work] wouldn't get done because, there's there's only a certain amount of money and maybe the town wouldn't be able to afford to hire someone just for them jobs.

"The saddest part for me about it is to see all these people probably get laid off and … no income coming in. So what do you do?"

For more than 15 years, Norma Best has been watching her daughter, Donna, go to work every week, rarely missing a days.

For the past five years she's been employed at the grocery store in King's Point, just a short drive from her home in Rattling Brook. Best says she's watched her daughter grow over the years and become more and more independent through the confidence she's developed by having a job.

"It's very important, very because I don't know what would happen to Donna without it. She's up before I'm up in the morning, gets ready. When time comes she says, 'Come on, Mom.'

"There's hardly words to put out how important that is. I mean I know first-hand, and if she don't have work this winter, I don't  know what I'm going to do. It's only me and her."

When Cory Wiseman took over the Lawtons Drugs in Springdale  and Badger Bay Health and Beauty shop in Triton, both businesses were already availing of the supported employment program. 

"We get someone that comes to work like both of the employees we've got now, with a little bit of a different perspective, they generally bring a little bit of light to a situation," Wiseman said.

"It just kind of gives employees with some disabilities some options to be part of the community … and also shows the community that these people can contribute in a meaningful way."

Wiseman hopes both levels of government will work together to find a solution and help give the clients — who don't normally have a strong voice — a place in the community for years to come.

"This is real people, this is a real community," he said. "Hopefully we can come to some agreement that shows what the benefit of this program is and we can secure the funding for the long term."

Kem Young, who's been working for the employment corporation for more than 20 years, says her work to advocate for those with disabilities will continue — it has to.

"We're being positive and I'm feeling very positive that this will be resolved," she said. "It's not just about going to work, it's the community connection. We have to keep that connection in our community and in our society — for those individuals."

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