Breaking Barriers to Employment: How REDI Supports People with Disabilities in the Workforce

This blog article is written by Josh Hudson, Executive Director at REDI Enterprises Society (REDI).

Employment’s role in Identity

When you are introduced to someone new, there are almost universally two key questions asked, “Who are you?”, and “What do you do?” These little bits of information are the basic blocks of how we categorize and identify people in our brains.

For most of us, the “What do you do?” question ends up being answered with our job or occupation. For me, the introduction is often, “I’m Josh and I’m with a disability service provider called REDI.” For better or worse, in our culture we tend to tie employment with identity.

For those people who struggle with employment and perhaps have never had a job – like many people living with disabilities – this can lead to a bit of an identity crisis. Everyone wants purpose, and for much of our adult lives, part of that purpose comes through meaningful employment.

Employment isn’t Equal for Everyone

Many people living with disabilities in Canada face barriers to employment and inclusive hiring opportunities that limit access to meaningful work.

Think about your first job—the day you got hired. How old were you? What did you want to buy? How did it feel to receive your first paycheque?

Now imagine that moment didn’t come until much later in life. For some of the people supported by REDI Enterprises Society, that’s reality. For many people living with disabilities, the opportunities that many of us take for granted may not come until much later in life. REDI helps make these opportunities come faster.

Reframing How Society Sees People Living with Disabilities

Founded by two women in 1952 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, REDI Enterprises Society provides disability employment services and supported employment programs that help individuals become active participants in their communities. Having work, a home, a social circle, laughter, love, and connection are as important to people living with disabilities as they are to anyone.

REDI works alongside people living with disabilities to create communities where everyone belongs. In the 1950’s, institutions were often considered the best option for people living with disabilities, and isolation was the norm. As a society, we could not yet see the value and contributions that people living with disabilities bring to their communities. It took years of advocacy, options and programming to start to shift cultural thinking.

REDI was at the forefront of this work – long before the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion took their rightful place in society:

Social Enterprise Model Creates Employment for People with Living with Disabilities

Twenty-five years later, REDI evolved to meet the needs of people living with disabilities. In 1977, REDI opened the doors to its first social enterprise. REDI Bottle Depot was created to offer sustainable employment to its clients, and, in addition to job creation, quickly found a new source of unrestricted funding.

The revenue generated through social enterprise is invested back into the charity, funding new and enriched programming and competitive compensation for staff. Since the funding is unrestricted, it can be repurposed anytime as an opportunity or emerging need is identified by the charity.

The lessons learned through the success of job creation through social enterprise provided the knowledge-base for REDI to expand the scope of opportunities available to people living with disabilities, by reaching out to employers across the community, and creating the REDIworks program.

Connecting Inclusive Employers with Skilled Candidates

REDIworks supports individuals with a variety of interests, skills and abilities to secure and maintain employment. People are matched with employers with proactive workplace cultures that embrace equity and inclusion.

Scott, a long-time REDI client, had invested years as a community volunteer for various organizations, helping with sports and community events. But despite his continuous efforts, Scott could not find employment. Then one day, with a representative of REDIworks, Scott went into a job interview with an employer who looked beyond the disability and saw a person with potential. Scott was in his 20’s when he got the call offering him his first job. After he accepted and hung up the phone, he wept. He was finally experiencing an opportunity to work and gain his first paycheque; finally knowing that an employer believed he could make a contribution and be part of a team.

Why Inclusive Hiring Benefits the Economy

According to Statistics Canada, 1 in 5 working-age Canadians lives with a disability, highlighting the importance of inclusive employment policies in Canada. That’s a total of 3.2 million workers. The unemployment rate for individuals living with a disability is 52.9% and increases to 80% for those living with intellectual disabilities (sources: Statistics Canada / Department of Justice Canada).

When people living with disabilities have employment, it strengthens both their personal identity and their economic participation. Employment provides a sense of purpose, creates life options, and lessens the stigma that can be associated with unemployment. And when we consider that the Conference Board of Canada is projecting a 25% loss of our workforce by 2035, this group of potential employees could become an untapped resource and an economic asset.

The approach at REDIworks is to provide support to people living with disabilities to find, obtain and maintain a paying job in a mainstream workforce. Throughout the process, and long after, REDIworks supports individuals and employers to ensure success. And Scott? He remains an employee at that forward-thinking worksite, his first job, and is proud of nearly 10 years of service.

At a company meeting, Ben, who offered Scott the job, reflected on that decision saying, “We didn’t give him the opportunity, he gave us the opportunity to learn what a truly inclusive and diverse workplace should look like. Anybody out there who shares their experience will tell you the exact same thing.”

REDI programs are a win-win-win — for people, for the community, and for our economy.

(Pseudonyms have been used to respect privacy.)

REDI Enterprises Society (REDI) is a registered charity, established in Alberta by Albertans. REDI exists to actively promote social change to effect inclusion of persons living with disabilities or disadvantages in our communities. For over 70 years, REDI has worked to make communities across Southeastern Alberta places where everyone belongs. For more information or to make a donation, visit us at redi.ca.