Grant Boosts Employment Program For Youth With Disabilities

Thanks to a $25,000 grant from Coast Capital Savings, the University of Victoria’s CanAssist program will continue a pilot project that is helping young people find and keep meaningful, part-time paid jobs while attending high school. The project, known as TeenWork, matches work-ready youth with local employers and coaches them toward workplace independence. “This generous grant from Coast Capital Savings will give more teens the opportunity to find employment and to develop the valuable life skills that come with working,” says Xela Holmes Rysstad, TeenWork's program coordinator. To date, 18 participants have worked in businesses such as Red Barn Market, Peninsula Co-op, Costa Verde Contracting, Thrifty Foods and Lush Cosmetics in the Hillside Mall.
       Coast Capital provided TeenWork with $10,000 in 2010. “We’re committed to helping build a richer future for youth in our communities,” says Wendy Lachance, Coast Capital’s director of community leadership. “It’s important for us to invest in initiatives that help youth earn money, gain valuable work experience and become self-reliant as they transition into adulthood.”
       CanAssist is a UVic organization dedicated to helping people with disabilities improve their quality of life and to increasing awareness of disability issues. Coast Capital Savings is Canada’s second largest credit union with more than 454,000 members across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.

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