MentorAbility Experience: Doug
Having recently graduated university with a degree in Applied Economics, Doug was more than ready to jump into his career; but, Covid made for an uncertain job market and he was unsure of his next step toward employment. Thankfully, Doug looked into his university’s career counselling program and they referred him to MentorAbility — a partnership that ultimately landed Doug a great job with a big Tech company!
MentorAbility Experience: Basel
When Basel came to March of Dimes Canada (MODC) for help finding employment, he wanted to work full-time as a Farm Hand. Basel grew up in Syria where he worked on a farm his whole life. When he moved to Canada in 2016, however, he faced numerous barriers to employment including a lack of formal training, no Canadian job experience and deafness. With all these barriers in his way, it was not surprising that he struggled to secure employment.
MentorAbility Experience: Trisha and Tiffany
After considering potential career paths, Trisha had her sights set on working in the restaurant industry because she felt her positive energy and upbeat personality would translate well into customer service.
Trisha was soon referred to MentorAbility to gain hands-on work experience, and the first mentorship opportunity that came along was in childcare (and not the restaurant industry). Trisha figured that any work experience was good experience, so she agreed to be mentored by Tiffany, owner of the ProCare Family Centre in Ottawa.
MentorAbility Experience: Erin
“I believe inspiration and encouragement go a long way for every person, it only takes one person who believes in you to change a life,” said Erin (an awesome mentor from Saskatchewan!). Erin chooses to volunteer as a mentor to be that one person — the person who changes someone’s life for the better.
As an Indigenous Resource Officer with the local police, Erin is an advocate for Indigenous Protocols, accessibility, equality and equity; and, as such, she works hard to change the historically troubled relationship between police (simâkansuk) and Indigenous People into something more positive.
MentorAbility Experience: Brandon and Tyler
As a massive sports fan, Brandon loves his current role as a back shop merchandiser for a sporting goods store in Calgary; and, he’s been commended on his excellent work ethic many times over the years. Despite loving his job, however, Brandon wanted to further challenge himself by moving into more of a customer service role but there were no openings at his current location.
MentorAbility Experience: Ian and James
MentorAbility is all about making connections — links between mentors and proteges, people and organizations, and turning dreams into reality. So, when Ian came to us and said he wanted to be a professional wrestler, we got to work immediately on connecting him with someone with real, in-ring wrestling experience.
MentorAbility Experience: Brian and Mica
When Brian first heard about MentorAbility – and the idea he could gain a valuable mentoring experience in a desired field – he immediately wanted to do something with cars. As a fan of cars, Brian thought a good entry point into this industry would be cleaning and washing vehicles for a dealership. Thankfully, MentorAbility was able to connect Brian with Chilliwack Ford in B.C.
MentorAbility Experience: Sara and Kyla-Lorraine
For Kyla-Lorraine, administrative officer at SPHERE, the primary goal of participating in the MentorAbility initiative as a mentor was to help others. And she achieved her goal! In fact, she was able to answer all the questions asked by her mentee, Sara. Kyla-Lorraine was able to teach her the basics of her work, explain in detail her daily tasks, and paint a picture of what her job is like so that Sara could understand that profession.
MentorAbility Experience: Adam
Since Adam first connected with MentorAbility, it was clear that he loved baking and wanted to gain some hands-on experience in the baking field. He was especially keen on seeing how pretzels were made and learning how to bake those little breaded wonders! Fortunately, MentorAbility was able to connect with Lori and Sam at Southcentre Mr. Pretzel and secure Adam a mentorship making his favourite salty snack.
MentorAbility Experience: Thomas and Sébastien
It’s never easy to find a job when looking to enter the job market for the first time or even when returning to it. MentorAbility is a great way to meet an employer and provides a glimpse into the sector that a mentee wishes to enter. The following experience demonstrates a key goal of the initiative, that of inspiring a mentee and opening up his horizons.