CARA Cooper’s disability doesn’t impact on her dreams of working just a few hours a week.
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She has pinned her hopes on a new program she said will help her realise that dream.
The call has gone out for Shoalhaven employers to join a new free campaign called The Ready to Work Inclusion Program.
The program is a quick and easy way for local employers to see how people with a disability could benefit their mainstream workplace.
Miss Cooper, who lives in North Nowra, previously worked at Best & Less in Nowra and loved it.
“I like working with people and I liked tidying things up on the racks. It was nice to belong, to be a part of the team.”
“I also like cooking,” she said.
Sureway Employment & Training holds the contract for disability employment services and is promoting the Ready to Work program in the Shoalhaven.
The company’s business development leader Juliana Skeels is keen to see more local companies consider roles for disabled people.
She said the benefits flowed both ways between employer and employee.
“We want employers to be on board with this and we are able to help in many ways,” she said.
“When we talk to people about this they quickly see that there are jobs they might not have thought of that a person with a disability could do. One of the benefits to the company is it frees up time for more qualified people to do more complex tasks.
“While their productivity might not be the same as an able-bodied person there is the option for a productivity-based wage.
“Even in this day and age people still freak out when they hear the word disability. People tend to think of wheelchairs straight away,” Ms Skeels said.
Sureway disability employment case manager Sharon Lee said the feedback she had received from employers who had taken on someone with a disability had been positive.
“It is also the case that businesses who do take on a person with a disability get more support from clients and customers in the community,” she said.
“An example is one young man who we placed with the IGA in Ulladulla – now his family and their friends shop there.”
She said Sureway offers wage subsidies and other support to employers who hire someone with a disability.
To be learn more about the program phone Sharon Lee on 4429 1800.
