7 | durhamregion.com This Week | |Thursday, August 11, 2022 @TurnbullWhitby Working to make lifemore affordable 905-665-8182 • RyanTurnbull@parl.gc.ca TurnbullWhitby.ca serving hot and iced coffee drinks, snacks and baked goods. A market section stocks products created by people with disabilities. Melly's is named after Melanie Ruttle, the "why" behind the concept. Ruttle, 34, dreams of the life she sees her siblings living -- working, going places, meeting people. "I want to be a part of everything, just like everybody else. A part of life," she says. Down syndrome meant Ruttle encountered barriers to finding a job -- but Melly's has changed that. Now, Ruttle is in her element greeting customers and making drinks. "It's so wonderful," she says. Most of the cafe's workers have struggled to find a job. Quadre McFarlane-Wilson, 22, says his job search was met with frustrating dead ends. "A lot of places wouldn't take me, wouldn't take anyone who is living with autism like me," he says. Adults with disabilities are chronically unemployed in Canada, despite bringing sought after qualities to the workplace. Statistics show 59 per cent of those with disabilities in Canada are employed, compared with 80 per cent of the general population. For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, that number drops to 25 per cent. Data from Ready, Willing and Able -- an initiative that helps Canadian businesses build an inclusive workplace for people with an intellectual disability or autism -- shows many employers rate people hired through the program as better than average when it comes to skills like productivity and work attitude. Oshawa resident Wendy Dupont knows first hand how difficult the job search can be for adults like her daughter Melissa, 31, who has autism as well as speech dyspraxia. After high school, Melissa attended but grew bored of local day programs. Her mom says some were like "glorified daycares." What Melissa wanted was a job, but she couldn't find a place willing to give her a chance. Melissa has worked at Melly's for about month and loves it. Dupont describes the opportunity as "life-changing" for her daughter. "She is thriving there beyond my expectations," she says. "There needs to be more places like this." The training program at Melly's Workplace includes 16 modules covering everything from customer service to food safety. Each trainee is assessed at the beginning of the program to determine their needs and provide a customized training approach. Megan Woodley and Mikaela Kauffeldt, learning and development coaches at Melly's Workplace, say the program teaches employment skills that are needed in the café, but will also be a benefit for future jobs. In the short time the program has been running, Kauffeldt says so much growth is already evident. "Their maturity, their professionalism has really grown. Their parents or friends or family will come in and say how much they notice a difference," she says. "I want people to know that this is one of the most amazing places I've ever been." The goal is to expand the program to include transitioning café employees to jobs with partnered local businesses. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: People with disabilities face higher levels of unemployment than the general population -- and for those with intellectual or developmental disabilities, the prospects are even more daunting. Families and advocates have long called for programs that provide a bridge to meaningful, sustainable employment. NEWS Continued from page 1 '(MY DAUGHTER) IS THRIVING THERE...THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE PLACES LIKE THIS' Melly's Market + Cafe staff Quadre McFarlane-Wilson takes out muffins from the oven. Melly's Market + Cafe is a new not-for-profit that employs adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Susie Kockerscheidt/Metroland