Upcoming Events!

• Webinar: Disability and Confidence Awareness Learning: This is the last of our condensed Disability and Confidence Awareness Learning webinars! This will be on Sept 11 from 1-3pm. This is your last chance to attend - connect with us here to save your spot!
• ​Webinar: CASE Annual Meeting: The Canadian Association for Supported Employment is holding their annual general meeting and anyone interested is invited to register. To learn more, check out their website!
• After 5 Business Mixer: The next After 5 will be hosted in Dundalk at Edgewood Suites on Sept 25 from 6-8pm. We hope to see you there!

For more information, please see our Events Calendar and Blog!

National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM)

October is the National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and there are a few National Initiatives that you can participate in (in a time and cost-effective manner) to raise awareness for People with Disabilities in the Workforce and Supported Employment! This will let the community (and the 1/4 Ontarians living with disabilities) know that you are a respectful and inclusive employer, making you more likely to find employees with the skillsets you're looking for.

"Light It Up for NDEAM" is a National Initiative that happens every October on the third Thursday of the month. Blue and purple lights are used to bring the conversation around inclusive employment to your area, and you could start that wave.

If you would like more info, please reach out to us at LDEvents@segss.com! We can help with general information, supplies, and by Lighting It Up with us, you will be included in our video with all of our partnered participating businesses to show off how well we Light It Up here in South Grey.

We hope you will become a champion for people with disabilities in the workforce!

Resource Corner

Resources available to you through Life Directions Employment, the greater Grey Bruce Community, and helpful online resources. Please contact our Business Engagement Specialist if you are interested in any of the trainings listed!

• MentorAbility: This is an initiative led by the Canadian Association for Supported Employment (CASE). This allows you to meet a job seeker and teach them about a position to help them in their job search. It also lets you get to know a job seeker and their abilities. By completing a Mentorship, there is no expectation of a job offer - if you and the job seeker would like to move forward with employment, you are free to do so but not obligated.

• Inclusivity Self-Assessment: Gauge your understanding of inclusive practices and identify areas for improvement using CASE's Free Tool!​
• Mental Health First Aid Training: Learn to identify and provide early intervention for mental health issues, supporting recovery and resilience. Created and Facilitated by CMHA.
• Dimensions of Neurodiversity Training for Teams: A workshop with Sara Clarke and Kimberly Van Ryn (Branching Out Support Services) to foster inclusive environments for neurodiverse customers and team members.
• Letting Go of Judgment: Transformative workshop focused on embracing diversity and releasing judgment for a more inclusive workplace. Facilitated by The Space Between with Alicia.

Deaf Awareness Month

In honour of Deaf Awareness Month, take some time to learn about Deaf Culture and the international community. Watching a film or interacting with media made by Deaf people is a good way to start learning, and r/Deaf on Reddit can be a great starting point for recommendations.

Although being deaf is not a negative/detrimental trait, the world is generally geared towards hearing people, and this causes some major systemic barriers for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. These barriers are easily avoidable when accessibility is prioritized. This is a comprehensive report published by Silent Voice regarding Ontario Youth who are deaf or hard of hearing that discusses some of those systemic barriers and resource gaps due to inaccessibility that they face. They also discuss some systemic solutions to these inequalities.

Some potential accommodations are:

• Transcripts: For all digital meetings, ensure that subtitles can be switched on and transcripts can be saved for later reference. Video meetings can be started for in-person meetings to capture info and use this accessibility feature.
• Emailing Important Info: For clear communication, write out important and relevant information in an email. If you would say it to a hearing coworker/employee, be sure to type it to your coworker/employee who is deaf.
• Assistive Items/Technology: People who are deaf may use a pen and paper, whiteboard, or tablet for in-person communication. As an employer, your roll could be to normalize and encourage the use of alternative communication methods within your workplace and allow all employees the space to communicate in a way that works for them.
• Work-From-Home Options: There may be sounds and frequencies within a workplace that feed back and cause hearing-aid users pain, or make it difficult for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to understand what people are saying. The most reasonable and cost-effective way to retain them may be Work-From-Home.

The World Federation of the Deaf facilitates a week of awareness learning every September to educate hearing people about Deaf culture and community, and the struggles people who are deaf and hard of hearing face. To learn more, please visit their website to see how you can incorporate some easy changes to make a more inclusive workplace.

Being Deaf is not a disability - it is a difference in culture and how someone interacts with the world.

Please remember, when an employee is requesting an accommodation, they are not required to disclose any information surrounding their illness or diagnosis. Employers are required to accommodate people so long as it does not cause undo hardship - if you would like assistance in brainstorming alternative reasonable accommodations, understanding your obligations, or information surrounding accessing funding to improve your business' accessibility, please contact us!

Featured Business

We want to highlight Markdale PetValu for being an inclusive and active business within the LDE Community - thank you for being a local champion of inclusive hiring! They frequently host Mentorships through MentorAbility Ontario and have helped many of our job seekers in their employment journey through these learning experiences. Quite a few of our job seekers have been employed here as well.

If you are looking for any pet and grooming supplies or expertise, we invite you to visit Markdale PetValu. We know you'll be satisfied with their selection of foods, toys, and supplies and their commitment to great service!

​​​

Community Partners

Read about some of our Partners and what they're doing to support the community!

• Grey Transit: Grey Transit has partnered with us to provide discounts to our job seekers to aid in transportation to workshops - thank you so much! Please see their website to learn more about them and their services.
• Contact North: Contact North helps people in rural areas access courses and certificates at an affordable price. If you or your employees need to learn some new skills, or if you're looking for an employee with a specific skillset, they are a great local resource. For more information, please see their website.

Highlighting Orange Shirt Day

September 30 is Orange Shirt Day to honour and recognize the thousands of unmarked graves that have been found on Residential School grounds, and those who have not yet been found. We wear orange to recognize those lost and stolen children, and the ones whose bodies made it home but were scarred mentally and spiritually. This national recognition is #80 out of the 94 Calls to Action made by the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission. There are only 11 out of 94 Calls to Action that are currently completed and implemented.

You can read more about why we wear orange specifically here, and they have also listed some resources to learn more about our Truth and how you can be a part of the Reconciliation efforts below the article.

Gitchi-inendaagoziwag Gakina Abinoojiiyag

(They mean so much, all children)

Every Child Matters

Chaque Enfant Compte

Locations

As well as the weekly calendar below, Rose is in the Life Directions Employment Office in Flesherton at 774292 Hwy 10 N all week from 9am to 4pm. Please feel free to drop in and she'll do what she can to help you.

​ Angela Lessard Career Advisor AngelaL@LifeDirections.ca Cristin O’Sullivan Coordinator & Certified Career Strategist CristinO@LifeDirections.ca Paul Waganeer Career Advisor PaulW@LifeDirections.ca Randy Schoch Business Engagement Specialist RandyS@LifeDirections.ca Monica Singh Soares Business Engagement Specialist MonicaSS@LifeDirections.ca Shannon Halbert Digital Operations Specialist ShannonH@LifeDirections.ca Rose Bishop Data Entry and Events & Marketing RoseB@LifeDirections.ca ​​​​​

​