Mentorship

David Holman is a consultant who has worked widely in adult education and with people with disabilities.  He's been a college principle and worked with social services to promote self reliance in clients.

The Mentorship Program for People with Disabilities is a project being established by our District with funding from Employment Ontario.  David says the problem with most job creation programs is that they start with the Social Service Centres which, despite doing wonderful work, are faced with the problem of 'selling disability' - in other words they have clients they are trying to place.  This program starts with the businesses first.  Rotary is business and if the resource that is Rotary can be established as a resource for these people the matching can go the other way.

 1.85 million people are suffering from a disability in this country and their unemployment rate is way over the national average at 25% due, mostly, to attitudinal barriers.  But electronic adaptors have broken down many of these barriers.  Deaf people can communicate with email, etc., buildings are more accessible.  This program falls in the Clubs' Vocational service which is one that is sometimes hard to find a program for and it goes beyond fund raising to hands on.

The idea is to create a structured and trusting relationship between a Rotarian and someone seeking a job and to encourage an exchange of experience that will help the job seeker build confidence and gain insight.  Dave hopes to use Rotary's networks that reach District wide to seek matches.  He is now working to develop mentorship options that will work on-line, or in group sessions, or by matching individuals or through mentorship by a Club.  I asked him afterwards about funding and he says this is not about a Rotarian finding a person a job in their office - it's about a Rotarian, or a group of them, working with an individual as they pursue a job search and to help by suggesting extra training or experience, if required, or by suggesting networking opportunities or even helping with resumes, etc.  This is quite different from what we are usually asked to do, which is place somebody when we don't have a position or a budget.  Candidates must be in an active job search and will be screened by Dave and a committee at the District before they are placed with a Rotarian.  Dave asks anyone who might be interested in acting in this more advisory capacity to contact him at 416-573-4695 or at dholman@rogers.com.

Dave is researching partnerships with educational institutions and he is developing program guidelines which will be published and launched at the Conference.  He is offering a session on the program on the Thursday afternoon if you can make it.