CTV Ottawa Television coverage of EARN launch with Heather McAdam from LiveWorkPlay

(United Way Ottawa press release) Monday, October 24, 2011, Ottawa — This morning at Ottawa City Hall, United Way Ottawa, in partnership with 10 service provider and nine employer partners, launched the Employment Accessibility Resource Network (EARN) Ottawa and its Business Leadership Network. The EARN initiative was created to help address the need for increased employment opportunities for people with disabilities in this community.

"Removing barriers and increasing opportunities for employment for people with disabilities is one of our priority goals for our community," said Michael Allen, President and Chief Executive Officer, United Way. "This goal is critically important. Ottawa is 17 points behind the rest of the country on employment for people with disabilities. With our partners we are working to bring together service providers and employers to create measurable change for people with disabilities."

With more and more baby boomers reaching retirement age, Canada's workforce is shrinking rapidly and employers will increasingly struggle to recruit and retain talent. EARN is intended to help fill that labour gap for employers and people with disabilities using three key strategies -- increase service provider coordination, employer engagement and create a system that matches talented people with employers.

EARN's Business Leadership Network brings together employers to increase awareness of the business case for hiring people with disabilities; it provides resources on workplace accommodation; and is a forum for sharing best practices on workplace inclusion. Employers will also benefit from access to pre-qualified candidates through a central job-match system.

Employers will benefit in other ways as well, according to John Jarvis, Chief Experience Officer at The Westin Hotel: "We have hired several employees with physical and intellectual disabilities at our hotel and they've proven to be exceptionally committed employees. They work hard. They want to do a great job and they want to learn -- these are qualities you can't teach someone. Our employees with disabilities are a real asset to our team at the Westin."

About EARN:

The Employment Accessibility Resource Network (EARN) Ottawa is a United Way-led community initiative that brings together employers and service providers with a goal of increasing opportunities for meaningful employment for people with disabilities. To achieve this goal, EARN Ottawa is implementing three key strategies: to increase service provider coordination, to engage employers and to create a system that matches talented people with employers. EARN Ottawa's founding members are: Access Infinity Management, Algonquin College, Algonquin College Student Services, Canadian Mental health Association, Canadian Paraplegic Association Ontario, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, City of Ottawa, City of Ottawa, Causeway Work Centre, LiveWorkPlay, MBNA Canada Bank, Ministry of Community and Social Services, Ottawa Independent Living Resource Centre, Performance Plus Rehabilitative Care Inc., and Service Canada, TD Canada Trust, Telfer School of Business, The Westin Hotel, the University of Ottawa and United Way Ottawa.

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Nonprofits & Activism

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