Blog
Success Story: Jessica and The Golden Leash
Jessica has always had a passion for dogs and wished to become a dog groomer. Being a dog groomer requires a lot of patience and the ability to work with all types of dogs. Over a year ago, Jessica began her journey volunteering at the Calgary Humane Society and...
What I wish I had time to tell you…
Let’s pretend we’re being introduced to each other quickly for the first time and you ask me, “What do you do for a living?” I reply, “I am a Career Consultant.” And you mirror back to me the awkward, unsettled look on my face that has accompanied my response. It’s...
Success Story: An Interview with Cineplex Star Melissa
How did you hear about CAES? Why did you decide that CAES would be a good service for you? Melissa: Through PDD (Government of Alberta, Persons with Developmental Disabilities)- I mentioned that I was having troubles finding a job to my coordinator. I was...
Accessibility and the New Central Library
In various parts of Alberta and throughout Canada, access for patrons with disabilities to fully utilize and have access to libraries and their services is not yet available, or even expected. It should be noted how fortunate Calgarian’s are to have not only...
Pursuing Personalized Employment Online
Finding work is more technical, automated, and simplified than ever. This does not mean that those looking have it any easier getting responses. Employers understandably have limited resources and time concerning potential workers and their applications, but would be...
Literary Review: “Diversity Doesn’t Stick Without Inclusion”
Laura Sherbin and Ripa Rashid’s article titled “Diversity Doesn’t Stick Without Inclusion” does a masterful job of explaining what I’ve been feeling lately; that we’ve been expending way too much time on the topic of diversity, and not enough on inclusion. I find all...
Review of the Annual CASE Conference: Halifax Edition
While local retailers are already decking their early-September halls with Halloween costumes, a plethora of winter ware and advent calendars (!?!?), some of us here at CAES are not yet ready to accept the closing of our 2018 summer (me)! So let’s talk summer for a...
2018 Community Futures Treaty 7 Annual Stampede BBQ
Community Futures Treaty 7, alongside Aboriginal Futures and Fat Systems, host what has become one of the best attended and well known Stampede BBQ’s in the city of Calgary. I have volunteered for the past 10 years (Helping guide the food line as well as head...
#GETLOUD: 7 Tips for Preserving Mental Health during Workplace Changes
During the span of a person’s career, it’s not unusual to experience at least a few substantial changes at the workplace. These changes might look like corporate restructuring, layoffs, departure of key staff, rapid growth of programming/services, adoption of new...
#GETLOUD: Workplace Wellness with Dr. Joti Samra, R.Psych. ~ Principal & Founder of MyWorkplaceHealth.com
This week I had the pleasure of connecting with Dr. Joti Samra to ask her a few questions about psychological health and safety in the workplace. Dr. Samra is a national thought leader on issues relating to mental health. She is Program Lead for the online Centre for...
The ‘Brand’ of Disability Advocacy
Social work researcher sparks national conversation on increased quality of life for adults with autism. There is an interesting and provocative question posed by the researcher in this article; "how well equipped are employers to include people with autism (spectrum...
Getting Away From It All: The Value of Team Building
It is difficult to talk about the CAES team without first boasting about them. Throughout many employment endeavours, I have been fortunate enough to have worked with many memorable individuals: some inspirational, some passionate, driven, intelligent, eclectic,...
My Experience with ‘The Ethics of Helping’
How many times a day do Ethics show up in your daily work? How do you know if Ethics are playing a part in the decisions that you are making? Is it a gut feeling or something you were taught when growing up? Our personal code of ethics plays a significant role in the...
Dining in the Dark
Recently, I had the unique experience of dining in the dark. Utter and complete blackness. The concept of this dining experience is to provide insight to the guests as to what it’s like for the millions of people living with blindness to maneuver through such an...
Why we need Disability Pride
"Pride is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired." Pride celebrations have long been a topic of...
Blade Runner and Employee Engagement
Blade Runner 2049… you had me at ‘cells interlinked’! The baseline test (measures level of neutrality) completed by K, (Blade Runner replicant engineered to “retire” other rogue replicants) was particularly striking. Like most of the audience, I could not help but...
Local Accessibility Spotlight: YYC Link Passenger Shuttle
Through my participation on the Calgary Airport Authority’s (CAA) Accessibility Advisory Council, I nominated the CAA and their YYC LINK Passenger Shuttle for the Ella Anderson Accessible Transportation Award, with the City of Calgary Advisory Committee on...
Team Building: Is It Time to Eat Yet?
I have been a Career Consultant with Calgary Alternative Employment Services for over a year and can honestly attest to never having worked with a better team before! We are eleven eclectic advocates, with wildly differentiating opinions about many things, all sharing...
A Tribute
This blog is about acknowledging someone who myself and others feel has significantly altered the lives of people involved in inclusive employment. Her name is Denise Bissonette, and her impact within the Supportive Employment community has been one of legend. Simply...
DEAM Highlights: Film Festival Inspiration
When I started working at CAES it was right in the middle of DEAM 2016. I was in the midst of training and job shadowing, not quite comfortable in my role yet, I didn’t attend any of the DEAM events throughout the rest of the month. This year I was excited and was...