CASE Member Spotlight – Opportunities Yukon
CASE Member Spotlight
Opportunities Yukon
The Canadian Association for Supported Employment (CASE) is committed to facilitating inclusive employment in Canada for persons experiencing disability and who may have intersecting identities. Our work is guided by our values and the guiding principles of supported employment. This work also involves learning and promoting best practices in Canada and across the world with the shared goal of advancing supported employment.
Kateryna Zmytrovych, CASE Member Experience Coordinator, spoke with the following staff members at Opportunities Yukon:
- Valerie Dykshoorn, Support Program Manager
- Elissa Ciullo, Instructor, Employability Skills Program
How does your organization’s mission align with community inclusion?
Valerie: At the heart of our work is a commitment to providing a person-centred approach. This aligns with community inclusion by focusing on helping everyone feel included and supporting individuals in finding work in a way that makes sense for them.
What do you consider to be your organization’s biggest impact over the past year?
Elissa: Over the past year, we have seen a lot more youth coming through our program, which is a change compared to when I started three or four years ago. We were able to reach and support more young people, which has been really positive.
By engaging them earlier in their employment journey, we can encourage them to try new things and help build their confidence, especially when it comes to applying for work.
What’s a challenge your team solved in a creative or unexpected way?
Valerie: In our pre-employment program, we were having challenges with attendance and maintaining consistent participation. We tried a few different approaches, and while this solution may not seem very creative, it was simple and extremely effective.
We started providing food and snacks for everyone, and it made such a big difference. Attendance improved significantly, and it really helped support participants in staying engaged.
Clients working as part of the Community Flex Force, the Opportunities Yukon casual work program. The photo appeared in a newspaper article about the Snow Crew keeping the downtown core accessible in the winter. (Photo provided by Opportunities Yukon)
Which projects or goals are you most excited to focus on this year?
Valerie: Right now, we have a commercial kitchen that operates as a social enterprise. Previously, it was running primarily as a catering kitchen, but we have recently stopped the catering operations and are in the process of pivoting.
I’m excited to see how this kitchen will change, where we’ll take it next, and how we can further integrate our employment and pre-employment programs into that side of our operations.
Elissa: For me, the job placement aspect of our program has really grown, and I’m excited to see how much further we can develop it. It’s one thing for clients to complete the six-week classroom portion, but it’s even better when we can place as many people as possible into jobs.
This helps boost confidence and provides real-world experience. I’m looking forward to partnering with more businesses in the community and continuing to grow this part of our department.
Kateryna: By the way, one of the benefits of CASE membership is the opportunity to share your updates through our network. If you have any project news, upcoming events, introductions, or other announcements, feel free to send them my way. We’re happy to help amplify your work by promoting it on our social media channels or featuring it in our newsletter.
Employability Skills Program clients and instructors during a work experience day at the local recycling centre.
(Photo provided by Opportunities Yukon)
What makes your team unique in how you collaborate?
Elissa: We have both a job coaching department and in-class instruction, and the job coaching side focuses more on casual work. If we have a client who may not be ready for the six-week program with five hours a day in the classroom, we can discuss their situation with our job coaches and see if they might be a better fit for more casual work to start.
Once they get into that routine, after a couple of months we can re-evaluate and see if they’re ready for the program or adjust the path in the other direction if needed. It gives us a different route to offer clients. We always try to have something to offer and support them where they are.
Valerie: A large part of our organization also includes a residential program. We have clients who participate in the residential program and then transition into our employment services. This allows us to offer multiple, interconnected services and provide more holistic support to our clients.
Kateryna: I really love this approach, about not having a one-size-fits-all or templated path for everyone. Feeling listened to and having individual needs taken into account makes a huge difference for people seeking support.
If your team could spend dedicated time together as a team anywhere, where do you think you would go?
Valerie: We were joking that we’d be happy to go anywhere warmer this winter. But realistically, it would be really nice to visit another northern city or a city of a similar size. The idea would be to see what similar organizations are offering in comparable environments.
It would be great to see other programs in action, learn about different approaches, get ideas, and feel inspired by the work others are doing.
Visit the Opportunities Yukon website to learn more about their work.
Opportunities Yukopn Employment staff: Rahul, Melissa, Elissa, Jat and Valerie. (Photo provided by Opportunities Yukon)