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New funding to help people with disabilities find work
Ottawa East News staff
EMC news - Secured funding for
one non-profit organization will help
increase its goal of finding jobs for
more people with disabilities in Ottawa.
The Employment Accessibility
Resource Network announced it will
receive a $142,000 grant from the
Ontario Trillium Foundation on May
21.
Partnered with the United Way
Ottawa, EARN will use the funding
to reach out to more employers and
provide additional networking opportunities.
Brian Carriere, chairman
of EARNʼs steering committee and
relationship manager, said the organization
has helped debunk myths
surrounding the costs of accommodating
people with disabilities, which
in turn has helped place more people
in meaningful jobs.
“Many employers are not aware of
the resources available to help them
to hire, accommodate and retain employees
with disabilities,” Carriere
said.
Since EARNʼs mandate of connecting
the two, more than 85 people
with disabilities have found jobs in
Ottawa.
This funding will help that number
grow.
The announcement was made at
EARNʼs partner, the University of
SUBMITTED
Kelly Mertl of Hydro Ottawa, left, Sherrell Franklin of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Ottawa-Vanier MPP
Madeleine Meilleur, Jamie McCracken, chairman of United Way Ottawa, Allan Lough of Enterprise Holdings
and Brian Carriere of the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management presents a plaque noting
the foundation’s $140,000 grant to help the United Way Ottawa assist Employment Accessibility Resource
Network with their work of providing connections between employers and people with disabilities.
Ottawaʼs Telfer School of Management.
Carriere was joined by fellow
board members, politicians and
United Way board members to speak
about what the impact of this amount
of funding will have on the small organization.
“Iʼm pleased to see that these
funds will support such important
work here in Ottawa,” said Madeleine
Meilleur, MPP for Ottawa-
Vanier. “I would like to thank United
Way and the partners of EARN for
working so hard to make a difference
in the lives of people in our community.
It is truly important work that
is making our city a better place for
everyone.”
A United Way-led initiative,
EARN launched in 2011 to help
bring employers and service providers
together to increase the opportunity
to find employment for people
with disabilities.
The organization would do this by
increasing coordination with service
providers, engaging employers and
using a system which matches people
with employers depending on talent.
According to numbers released
by the United Way, only 43 per cent
of people with disabilities in Ottawa
participate in the labour market
– compared with 70 per cent of the
general population.
United Way adds that one in six
people with disabilities live below
the poverty line, and that by connecting
these individuals with EARN,
the potential to escape poverty is
possible.
The funding will be distributed
over the course of three years.
Aside from the United Way and
the University of Ottawa, EARN
has over 30 partners who work with
them, including Algonquin College,
Canadian Mental Health Association,
Canadian Security Intelligence
Service, and the city.
For more information about EARN
please visit the United Way, Ottawaʼs
website at www.unitedwayottawa.ca/
about-us/employment-accessibilityresource-network-earn.
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12 Ottawa East News EMC - Thursday, May 30, 2013