OASIS member agencies support meaningful employment for people with intellectual disabilities: Response to Toronto Star inquiry into workshops for people with intellectual disabilities

RELEASE

TORONTO (November 17, 2015) — Yesterday, Toronto Star reporter Moira Welsh inquired into provincially-funded sheltered workshops for people with intellectual disabilities. The article questions working opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities.

OASIS member agencies are committed to respond to growing community needs for people with an intellectual disability to find meaningful work. OASIS’s view of the role of our member agencies and the broader goal of employment is to ensure that youth and adults with intellectual disabilities are meaningfully engaged in the community and have access to individualized supports that are required for full participation, optimum self-sufficiency and socioeconomic advancement.

“OASIS member agencies believe that participation in the mainstream workforce in local communities is the best option to provide inclusion for people with an intellectual disability” said David Barber, OASIS president. “We are currently working with federal and provincial initiatives to create meaningful activities that promote inclusion and community participation.”

Many OASIS member agencies are actively engaged with Community Living Ontario’s Ready, Willing and Able employment initiative to better prepare people with intellectual disabilities to find meaningful work. OASIS has also been making significant progress in its relationship with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce to promote Abilities Connect, another program designed to assist people to find meaningful employment where they live. Through these programs, OASIS is working to create employment services that are goal and outcome-based and that promote personal growth.

About OASIS:
OASIS is a volunteer-run, member-driven organization. Its member agencies serve over 65,000 of Ontario’s most vulnerable citizens and employ 25,000 full and part-time staff. Its 180+ member agencies currently provide more than 85 per cent of all developmental services funded by the Ministry of Community and Social Services.

Media contact:
L. David Barber
President, OASIS
president@oasisonline.ca
1-800-961-9144