Boddy teaches Rotary about EDAP
Employment facilitator Don Boddy has worked with EDAP since 2005.
"The EDAP program has been around since 2000. It's a federal provincial program that pays money to SAM Inc. to run my program. It was designed to fill a gap for people with disabilities that weren't really fitting in anywhere. The gaps are huge in the systems," said Boddy.
If they don't show up for meetings or follow-up on what they say they will do then Boddy will not recommend them for employment.
"We build a plan and I become the middle person between the client, the employer, and government supports or the educational institution," said Boddy.
Clients can decide how much or how little involvement they want the employment facilitator to have with potential employers, government etc. Some apply for and get jobs all on their own while other get very involved with the facilitator.
EDAP sets targets and goals for each year to place 12 people a year who hold that job for three months.
"It doesn't seem like a lot but some years it's a huge amount. There's a reason why they're working with me," said Boddy. "Success is when clients get hope again and they begin to realize that they have skills and that they can move forward."
One of the amazing things Boddy said is that many agencies have their own definition of disability which means that clients might qualify in one program but not in another. That requires Boddy to learn the system to help all his different types of clients.
"My clients come from all walks of life: I've worked with people who've had very high skill sets and I've worked with people who have hardly any work experience at all who have not been that successful in employment and trying to move forward. The most important thing to remember is that they are people. We don't define people by their disability," said Boddy.
For example, a person is not autistic, they are a person with autism.
"We want to recognize that they're people like the rest of us. They are fragile, they have fears, and they face barriers and every now and then they make bad choices just like we do, but they're also strong, resilient, have a much better sense of who they are, how they fit into situations and how they matter life than most of us," said Boddy.
Story courtesy Portage Daily Graphic and Robin Dudgeon