Moose Jaw Families for Change among groups working to break down employment barriers for those with disabilities

The Kinsmen Cafe on South Hill isn’t your normal, run-of-the-mill coffee shop.

On any given day, you’ll find individuals of varying abilities manning the counter, working tables and doing pretty much everything you’d expect -- and that’s all by design for the Moose Jaw Families for Change venture.

The local non-profit organization supports people with disabilities in both residential and community settings, with the Kinsmen Cafe offering an outlet for those need work a chance to do just that. And with October recently declared Disability Employment Awareness Month in Moose Jaw, their efforts are one of the positives being highlighted in the city.

“Essentially what we try and do is work on a one-on-one basis with the folks that apply to our program, and what we do is provide job readiness skills, job coaching and give them the opportunity to build skills,” said Katie Bookout with MJFCC. “Then one of the most important things, helping people build a resume… A lot of folks, they want to work, but they aren’t given an opportunity in the workforce to build a resume and build experience.”

The Cafe works through the Imagine employment program, which offers training and employment for folks with varying abilities. In this case, it covers the gamut of working in the food service industry, something that can lead to employment outside of the MJFCC umbrella.

“We promote folks to apply to work with us, and then some have the goal where they want to work with restaurant ‘A’ or restaurant ‘B’, so they work with us for a given period of time until they feel comfortable moving onto additional employment,” Bookout said. “Then some other folks are comfortable working with us and hope to stay on and stay employed with us.

“That way they gain work experience and learn new skills, and then they can engage with folks in the community that they might not otherwise be able to engage with. When you have new customers and different customers that are coming into the Cafe all the time, it definitely helps in that area.”

Helping those with disabilities find work is just part of what MJFFC does -- through the Kinsmen Inclusion Centre just down the street from Cafe, they offer a variety of programming designed to promote diversity and inclusion in the community. Helping people join the workforce just enhances that mandate.

The MJFCC also works alongside the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, which carries a broad plan to help people find employment in a variety of fields.

“We’re very thankful that we have other amazing groups like the CCRW that are working to kind of do the same thing we are, raise awareness of folks with varying abilities and raise awareness of providing employment and how important it is to provide employment, something that has to be brought to awareness in the community,” Bookout said.

“We’re at a point now when it comes to inclusion and diversity where we can start to provide a little more education and a little bit more information what it looks like to employ folks with disabilities. That’s kind of main goal, and the CCRW is trying to promote that in their program too.”

The overall message? Sometimes you just have to give someone a chance.

“I think some employers have a preconceived notion of various stereotypes of what it might look like to employ someone with a disability, and instead of having them jump to conclusions or make assumptions, we want to work hard to educate folks when it comes to those with disabilities and what they’re capable of,” Bookout said.

For more information on MJFFC, the Kinsmen Inclusion Centre and the Kinsmen Cafe, be sure to check out their website at https://www.mjffc.com/. For more information on the Imagine program and the Cafe, you can e-mail mariahmjfcc@shaw.ca or lizmjffc@shaw.ca with any questions.