Hire young women with disabilities

Re: “A job was in the balance” (Weekend Life, Aug. 12)

Thank you for the piece you ran about Melissa C. Water and Employable Me, and for your increasing coverage of issues that affect people with disabilities. The unemployment and poverty rates for people with disabilities here in Montreal and across Canada are shocking — particularly for women — with unemployment as high as 75 per cent in some parts of Canada.

Our organization, DAWN Canada, is delighted to be partnering with the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW), who are leading a project funded by the government of Canada called Youth the Future in four cities across the country.

The Montreal site is the one we are supporting and is focused completely on young women.

Participants complete eight weeks of paid classroom like training for 30 hours a week, followed by 16 weeks of real-world work experience to enhance self-awareness, independence and employment-related skills so that they can transition into the labour market or return to school.

If any of your readers are interested in providing an employment opportunity to a young woman with a disability here in Montreal, please have them contact us at communications@dawncanada.net. Bonnie L. Brayton, national executive director, DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada (DAWN Canada), Montreal