Yellowknife (Apr 07/03) - After a devastating airplane accident Lee Penny was told he'd never walk again, let alone hold down a job.

The accident caused extensive brain damage and broke almost every bone in his body when the light aircraft he was flying crashed en route from Yellowknife to Fort Simpson seven years ago.

"The doctor said I'd never come back again. He said I'd never walk again," said Penny, 43, as he sits at a table at Tim Hortons sipping coffee.

Although his memory is slowly returning to him, he doesn't remember the accident very well. He also has trouble with his short-term memory, which means learning new skills is a challenge. But once he's learned them he'll never forget, Penny said.

Before his accident, Penny worked at Johnson's Building Supplies. He'd love to go back but for now he's happy busing tables 20 hours a week at Tim Hortons, because of a special employment program called EmployABILITY.

"I like working and I like the idea of making money," he said. "I feel like I'm living for a reason."

Bertha Lennie also needed a reason for living. Lennie is the manager at the Northern Career Resource Centre.

Looking at her now it's hard to believe a little more than a year ago she was struggling with depression and low self-esteem.

She's always been in the "helping" profession. She has worked as a counsellor in the past.

But her ambitious drive took a turn for the worse after eight months of night shifts and trouble with a personal relationship caught up with her a couple years ago.

"I could barely get up and go to work," she recalls.

So she looked for professional help to get her out of the slump.

She discovered the EmployABILITY program while helping a physically disabled friend look for work. She found a job with Genesis Group, the company which holds the government contract for the Northern Career Resource Centre.

She started there as an assistant but after a short time she was made manager.

"I'm doing excellent," she smiled. "I think my self-esteem has come up almost 100 per cent. About 90 per cent of the time I'm feeling pretty positive."

Now she helps others overcome similar employment obstacles -- from resume writing to career changes.

"Bertha is like everybody's grandmother," said her boss, Genesis Group president John Simpson.

"Bertha has a way with people. They just love her ... People are very grateful for what she does and how she does it."

"I feel a great pride in helping people straighten their lives up," said Lennie.

Going back to work

EmployABILITY is an employment service specifically catering to the needs of people with disabilities.

The program is an amalgamation between the employment support services at Yellowknife Association for Community Living and the Disabled Person Work Strategy. The two programs became EmployABILITY in May 2002.

"We changed the name to get away from disability. When we're talking with employers we're talking about the person's abilities not their disabilities," said Rae Celotti, program co-ordinator, who also ran the Disabled Person Work Strategy.

She said there are lots of people who are considered disabled but don't know it. Celotti said a disability can be anything that interferes with one's daily tasks. It can be physical, visual, aural and psychiatric -- which includes depression and bi-polar disorders.

"Because they're disabled it doesn't mean they don't need to work. We all have disabilities," said Celotti.

EmployABILITY serves them all, she said. The service works on two levels, helping the person find a job and on-job training support. The job coach takes the client to the workplace and works as a trainer until the client is comfortable doing the job on their own.

"You have to have patience and understand the person's disabilities to teach them something new," she said, adding repetition and consistency is best, depending on the disability.

Right now, Celotti has 67 active clients. Sixty per cent of those have a psychiatric disability including seasonal affective disorder and the "hidden disability," depression.

Dollars and cents

Employers not only benefit the community and the person by hiring someone from the EmployABILITY program, they can also get a government subsidy on salaries for those hired through the program, said Celotti.

Human Resource Development Canada has a variety of grant programs to help pay for training and to subsidize the employee's wages.

EmployABILITY clients often have a variety of skills to offer. Some have University degrees, while others have trades skills.

Celotti said, however, an employer needs to be flexible with the work schedule and understanding.

Tim Hortons owner/operators Deborah Burton and Craig Stevens have hired five people from the EmployABILITY program.

Right now three of their 40 employees -- including Penny -- have disabilities of varying degrees.

"We felt they had a lot to offer and we felt it was important to give everyone a chance," said Burton.

"A lot of businesses are scared about hiring someone with disabilities because they think it will be too much responsibility," said Stevens. "But we find people who are in here take on more responsibility. They take on more then we thought they could handle."

Stevens and Burton said it's hard attracting staff to the service industry and EmployABILITY helps fill that gap.

"Businesses shouldn't just think of the bottom line. It's also about people," said Stevens.

"We're people too," said Penny. "I have a disability but I can work." The Genesis Group presently has nine employees. Three of them have a disability.

"It was no effort for us," said Simpson, of hiring Lennie. "She was an asset right from the beginning."

"I personally take great pride in helping them with their lives."

"It's really important for employers to treat employees with respect and kindness regardless of their disability," said Lennie.