Tyler moved to Hope, BC a few years ago and through the support of the Chilliwack Society for Community Living (CSCL), he was matched with
a Vocational Counsellor who worked with him to learn more about his skills and interests to secure a job at Buy-Low Foods.
When moving to a new town, finding a job can be challenging, this is especially true if you have additional barriers to employment. Tyler has a developmental disability, so this means
that depending on the setting, he might require some workplace accommodations in order to complete certain tasks. He learned about
CSCL Employment Services
1, who work to build community by empowering people with diverse-abilities and partnering with local businesses to develop employment opportunities–they would be the perfect team to support him with his career aspirations. The first step that Tyler and his Vocational Counsellor, Gizelle, took was to determine the types of roles he would most be interested in pursuing.
After some conversation, they both felt that the ideal workplace would allow him to work as part of a team in either an office setting or in the food and beverage industry.
One of the first places that Gizelle approached was the Buy-Low Foods in Hope. Gizelle spoke with the Store Manager, Pauline, about Tyler joining the Buy-Low Foods Team.
As it turns out, Pauline has hired many employees with different abilities in the past, and understands the value that each person can bring to the team.
She was willing to work with Tyler to see if he would be a good fit. They set up an interview and a few days later, Tyler received a phone call letting him know he was hired and that he would be starting out at one four-hour shift per week.
The next step was to put Tyler through employee training. Gizelle begins this process by working alongside Tyler for an entire shift. This is to learn what is to be expected in his role and also to determine what support he might need. Some of his duties include: safety sweeps, facing, stocking and keeping the shelves looking their best and answering questions that customers have.
Gizelle supports by providing accommodations to help Tyler learn faster, like job cards to remember where something is located or how to accomplish a task that has many parts by breaking it down step-by-step. As he becomes more comfortable, Gizelle reduces the amount of time she is on-site, and only checks on Tyler periodically throughout his shift.
The experience for everyone has been fantastic so far and when asked how Tyler is doing in his role Pauline said: “Tyler has been a great fit to our team. He gets right to work for the task at hand. He tries his best to help and engage with the customers. During our huddles, Tyler always contributes to the conversation; keeps us on our toes.
It has been a pleasure having him join our team!”Not only has the team at Buy-Low gained a valuable team member, but the contributions that Tyler has been able to make have made a lasting impression on him and his abilities: “I really like my job, every day I get to learn new things, meet new people and especially help customers.
At the Staff Christmas Party, it was a lot of fun to get to know my co-workers better. I am very happy Pauline gave me an opportunity to work at Buy-Low Foods.
I get to be a part of a great team!”On top of his work at Buy-Low, Tyler has a keen interest in politics.
He is also working with the team at CSCL to look for additional work in an office setting, which will build off of his previous volunteer experience working in campaign offices & supporting during election season as a voting clerk.
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