A Challenge and a Promise

"This project took what was a good idea and what was good intentions and made it into something that really works. I would be less than honest if I didn’t say we had challenges as a part of the program. But we all, in partnership, overcame those challenges. And our employees and customers and the communities where we have our branches are all the richer for it. Having seen this program work, it has certainly strengthened our resolve and our commitment to increasing the hiring of persons with disabilities at the Bank of Montreal."

-- Jane Weatherbie, Vice President, Community Banking, Toronto Midtown, Bank of Montreal

"I think it’s wonderful! I always come up to Cecilia and I think she’s fantastic, really very good. I think it’s about time that institutions started to promote this type of program, because there are a lot of people out there with disabilities and they can still function. I think every bank should do this, post offices should do it, regular businesses...I think it’s very, very important."

-- Emma Lieberman of La Maison du Croissant, a commercial account customer of the Bank of Montreal

Cecilia Nunez is a new customer service representative with the Bank of Montreal. She works at the branch located in the ManuLife Centre at Bloor and Bay Streets in Toronto. Cecilia and 11 other individuals with physical disabilities recently graduated from an innovative program that offered them both a challenge and a promise.

Several organizations worked in partnership and in record time to make this all a reality. The program was launched in March and by December, the participants were on the job and receiving their first regular paycheques. The partners and their roles were: Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, broker; Training Coordinating Group for Persons with Disabilities, funding and program coordination; Centennial College, training; and the Bank of Montreal, employer.

Cecilia looks right at you when she talks; her head tilts slightly when she listens. She smiles and says she might have trouble if she tries to speak very fast.

She was born in Ecuador, the youngest of four children. Her family moved to Canada in 1975, when she was 10. Her physical disability didn’t express itself until she was a teenager. She began having trouble with her balance and physical movements. If she tried to talk fast, her speech became scrambled. Her handwriting was shaky. The diagnosis was cerebrellar ataxia, a disorder with symptoms somewhat similar to multiple sclerosis.

"In the beginning it was hard...I was afraid people would see only my disability." It became easier as Cecilia found that people could regard her as a person. But she had learned to be afraid of prejudice. This was one of the reasons -- another was years of translating for her Spanish-speaking mother -- that her self-esteem was low and she chose office cleaning as her first job. She felt more comfortable in a job where she didn’t meet many people and the phone seldom rang. She worked with her mother cleaning downtown office buildings -- including the ManuLife Centre where, years later, she would work as a Bank of Montreal customer service representative.

After four years cleaning offices, Cecilia pursued her creative side and moved into food services. She had a dream of eventually working as a caterer. This pursuit ended four years later because of the risks of burning herself and dropping food. Cecilia always believed in self-reliance and was driving herself to make her own money. But friends were telling her to be realistic and to get assistance with her disability.

A counsellor at the Women’s Employment Centre suggested retraining, and Jewish Vocational Services helped Cecilia with this and a work placement that led to two years of work at a video store. She found that she liked dealing with people face-to-face and that she was slowly feeling more comfortable.

Over the years, Cecilia had made occasional trips to visit family and friends in Ecuador. One of those friends became her fiance, and she now went back to the "old country" for her wedding there. The trip lasted a month.

When Cecilia returned, she did an extensive job search but couldn’t find work. She went to the Ontario March of Dimes for help, and a counsellor there referred her to the customer service representative training program.

"I wasn’t really expecting anything. I was protecting myself from disappointment," Cecilia says, recalling her interview in late April 1993 with Jim Pullen of the Bank of Montreal, Mark Irwin of Centennial College and Wenda Abel of the Training Coordinating Group for Persons with Disabilities. In early May, Jim Pullen left a message on Cecilia’s answering machine telling her that she was accepted.

"I was really excited and thankful. I called him back and told him I would try my best and that I was proud that they believed in me," says Cecilia.

The project, which began in early 1993, was based on the Skills Training Partnership model developed by the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work. The council lined up the Bank of Montreal and Centennial College. They then approached the Training Coordinating Group for Persons with Disabilities for funding.

The board of the Training Coordinating Group approved the proposal. An independent evaluation had described the program as "elegant and seamless." The project was on.

Participants were to be guaranteed jobs upon successful graduation from the program. Similar programs involving other business sectors such as the food and hotel industry had been successful in Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg. But this was the first time a project like this had been administered in Toronto.

The Bank of Montreal committed to 15 jobs at 15 branches. Each branch provided support through their regular training person, as well as a mentor to work alongside their trainee. Those graduating from the program were guaranteed a permanent half-time position with proportional benefits. (Initial part-time employment is the normal route to a full-time position as a customer service representative at the bank.)

The Training Coordinating Group for Persons with Disabilities took responsibility for coordinating project funding under Human Resources and Labour Canada, Canada Job Strategy Program.

Centennial College designed the classroom curriculum to meet the Bank of Montreal’s training requirements. Subjects included business mathematics, business communications, professional development, keyboarding and computer skills, bank products and terminology, and customer service.

The actual training took place over 24 weeks, during which classroom instruction interleaved with weeks of on-the-job training. Trainees and their mentors were introduced to each other at an informal social at a downtown hotel just prior to the first on-the-job session.

Participants were funded on an individual basis. Three types of financial support were available: training funds, a living allowance for the training period, and a limited budget for work accommodation (Assistive Vocational Technology Associates assessed each of the trainees to determine where assistive devices could be helpful).

The program was publicized and social service agencies were invited to refer applicants. To be eligible, applicants needed to have a disability according to the Federal Disability Act and be 18 years of age or older, a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant, unemployed, and not receiving or eligible to receive Unemployment Insurance. They needed to pass a check for security clearance, credit rating and educational background to enter the program. To qualify for a permanent position, they would need to pass evaluations of both classroom and on-the-job performance.

A selection team representing the partnership interviewed the applicants, and 15 were selected for admission. Twelve would complete the program. Cecilia was one of them.

Cecilia says she feels that a frustrating and demoralizing era of her life is now behind her, that she is now beginning a career she can stay with, one that holds a future for her -- a feeling likely shared by 11 other people.

The relationship developed between the partners in this project endure. They have become a team. Each one you speak with is an evangelist promoting the skills training partnership.

Their fervour is effective. Already, the Canadian Bankers Association has expressed an interest in the Bank of Montreal experience.

THE PARTNERS:

The Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work is a national organization to improve employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. Peter Krahn, (204) 942-4862, is the national manager of the Skills Training Partnerships program.

The Bank of Montreal is Canada’s oldest bank. Tom Proszowski, (416) 876-7681, is the bank’s national manager of initiatives for people with disabilities.

Centennial College is a community college in Metropolitan Toronto. Jack McLaren, (416) 285-6012, is chairperson of the college’s access programs.

The Training Coordinating Group for Persons with Disabilities is an Ontario organization linking persons with disabilities to the labour market (its board, by charter, includes a majority of persons with disabilities). Wenda Abel, (416) 413-4922, is executive director.

(Al Czarnecki is a Toronto-based writer and communications consultant. He can be contacted at (416) 261-9828.)