For those who lack employment due to a disability, an innovative and government-funded program is helping turn the tide of their futures towards prosperity, especially for one North Shore resident.
When Kevin Gudmanz first came into contact with the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work and their federally funded Partners for Workplace Inclusion Program, he'd been out of work for quite awhile. A stroke a few years back had affected his ability to hear others and sometimes find certain words in his speech. The former aircraft electrician and Xerox technician, formerly of South Africa, needed help and support to find his way back into the workforce. It was in August 2014 when Yenny Paez, an employment outreach specialist for CCRW first met Gudmanz.
"He came to us with one of the most comprehensive resumes I've ever encountered to be honest," says Paez. "He has such a long list of achievements and certifications. .. all the references that he has, it's amazing."
Working in conjunction with WorkBC and the YWCA, and along with CCRW colleague Dayna Yelland, Paez went to work trying to pair the former aircraft electrician with a meaningful and rewarding job, something not entirely easy with the stigma that continues to surround those with disabilities in the workplace.
"As soon as you mention something about disability, some people don't really know what that entails so they're kind of automatically taken aback," Paez explains.
She says a lot of people who have disabilities don't want to speak up about them to employers for fear of being singled out.
"That's where we come in," she says.
Paez describes the work they do in the program as a "menu approach," which means they meet with a client to assess what their needs are to make them more employable, from helping them brush up on their interview skills to obtaining a forklift certificate or FoodSafe certification.
"Anything that increases the employability of that individual," she says.
The program also connects with and educates employers about workplace disabilities, as well as arranges interviews for their clients and attends along with them.
Within a few months of working with Gudmanz, a match was found with The Great Canadian Landscaping Company in North Vancouver, a good fit for Gudmanz who lives in Deep Cove.
By late-February Gudmanz joined the team, filling a unique position within the company, one created specifically for him with his extensive background in tools and technical-minded thinking.
"It's unbelievable," explains Jason Black, vicepresident of operations for The Great Canadian Landscaping Company. "We can already see the efficiencies that are happening."
Gudmanz is now the new inventory control man at the company, responsible for making sure equipment is organized, distributed, maintained and neatly returned at the end of the day. "Once we understood what he could do and his level, being so technical when it came to management of tools and equipment, we essentially built this position around Kevin," says Black.
He compares his employee's hearing disability to that of one trying to pick up on an out-of-tune radio.
"What Kevin has to do for each individual person that he meets, he has to kind of find the frequency of everybody's speech, and that takes a little while. .. as soon as he picks up on the clarity of it he'll always have that and that remains," says Black.
But aside from the extra steps it takes him to pick up on what's being said and his occasional difficulty finding the right word during speech, his mind, body and soul are "sharp as tacks," as Black puts it.
Less than two months into his new job, Gudmanz is settling in nicely as well as getting acquainted with his new co-workers.
Working away in his tool room in The Great Canadian Landscaping Company's warehouse, Gudmanz appears to be right in his element.
A co-worker pokes his head in for a certain screwdriver, which Gudmanz produces and hands to him in four seconds flat.
"I'm enjoying it. I've always been with tools and things (alike)," he explains. "Everything must be in its place, and then everybody knows where the stuff (is)."
When asked about his experience working with the CCRW and its Partners for Workplace Inclusion Program, Gudmanz recalls it warmly.
"They have been very good for me, really," he says.
Employers or potential employees can find contact information for the CCRW and its Partners for Workplace Inclusion Program at ccrw.org.
