These Businesses Hire Disabled Ontarians:
Looking to curate a list of employers who actively employ/seek out disabled Ontarians to hire. Can you help me?
— Amy Volume (@amyvolume) May 31, 2022
If you are not on Twitter but wish to respond: amy@chez106.com
Check back for updates. This post will (hopefully) have some employment resources for Ontarians living with disabilities who are seeking employment.
Follow @EARN_UWEO - A United Way East Ontario-led initiative bringing employers and service providers together to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Here is the comprehensive list of employers who hire persons of all abilities.
Comments from Social Media users:
“I work for a college in the Testing Services department which allows me to support students who require accomodations for any number of reasons and it’s the most rewarding job in the world. I am striving to give [them] the respect and opportunity their deserve to grow and reach their goals.” - Carrie, who is physically disabled.
“I’m a client with Performance Plus Rehabilitative Care Inc. who specialize [in helping] individuals with different disabilities find work. They also have a list of employers.” - Guylaine, living with physical and mental disabilities.
“Check out the Happy Popcorn Co. in Cornwall.” - Daniel
From Happy Popcorn’s website:
“…the cornerstone of our popping was grown from one of the deepest kernels of our heart: our son Jack!
Jack is on the Autism spectrum, and as parents, we wanted to plan for his future. Grateful to be able to open a business inspired by Jack’s love for popcorn, we set out to create a place of inclusion – not only for Jack but for others too.”
“My wife is one of a few disabled people who got hired at TD Place to work as an usher for Redblacks games. They are very inclusive.” - Eric
To add to Eric’s comment, I worked at TD Place for the Compass group when I was laid off by a shuttering radio station. I was the pregnant bartender!
Amy Volume's BIRTHDAY WISH - Year 4!
Help me celebrate my birthday by giving a gift to a child receiving in patient treatment at CHEO (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario). All proceeds go directly to CHEO’s Child Life department who provide kids with wonderful and much needed distractions in many forms: books, toys, craft kits and other forms of entertainment.
I’m turning 36 on April 25th (woah!) - help me celebrate by buying a gift for a kid receiving in patient treatment at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, aka CHEO! All money raised goes to CHEO’s Child Life fund and you can learn more about the fund by CLICKING HERE.
Launched in 2019, we’ve raised $5,000.00 and I”m hoping to add another $2,500.00 in 2022. This is a mighty ambitious goal but, as long as I have a birthday, I’ll keep trying to provide entertainment and levity to those who deserve it most: kids in hospital.
This cause is very important to me. I am a CHEO kid. I spend a lot of my childhood in hospital, diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at eighteen months (1988) it was Sick Kids in Toronto until CHEO built their own Rheumatology Clinic (which I believe is the Infectious Diseases clinic in today’s terms).
As you can imagine, I missed a lot of school - never did make it on to any teams (sporting, social or otherwise) - in fact, I missed my own highschool graduation due to joint fusion surgery.
When you’re little and in need of a smile, CHEO’s Child Life department delivers. Please consider giving a gift to a child to help me celebrate my birthday. This fundraising effort is ongoing, year round. If you cannot donate at this time, there is no pressure! There are no deadlines! I just ‘get loud’ about it every April because that’s when I celebrate my birthday.
Help me celebrate by making a financial donation OR by buying a gift from my Wish List (will be delivered to my work address and brought to CHEO by me):
The photo above this text is of me delivering gifts & money to CHEO. This was my first year buggin’ you for donations. If you consider the average gift costing $25, to date, we have collectively given over 200 gifts to kids (aged 0-18) receiving in patient treatment at CHEO.
Rink of Dreams: Nope.
Excited to take the kids skating on the Rink of Dreams at Ottawa’s City Hall, we reserved our spot online no problem and arrived at our check in time promptly.
It’s just me who skates, my husband doesn’t. Our daughter who is 4 is learning, and our son, 7, has a pretty good form but also needs help from time to time. As I wait for a total hip replacement and foot fusion, in spite of my constant pain, I do my best to stay active.
We gear up and get on the ice with our new chariot stroller. We go right to the middle so as to not be in anyones way. When my husband arrives to drop off my daughters gloves (he was parking), we make our way over to the boards to grab them from him.
This is when I was approached by someone tending the rink. He informs me that I am not allowed on the ice with my stroller. I explained that it is for my youngest (who mostly is not skating; she was in it at the time) and I also use it as a mobility aid to which he says wheelchairs are permitted. I explained that while signing up, I read the rules and they indicated that strollers are permitted so long as the wheels are clean.
This stroller is brand new. I bought it for this purpose: to skate with the kids.
I agree to leave. We had been on the “Rink of Dreams” for less than five minutes.
While taking off our skates, the rink attendant again approaches me and apologizes. He says he was mistaken and that we are allowed on the rink.
By this point, I am exhausted and fatigued. I am mentally checked out. We are done. My son is crying. It is a stressful time (for many reasons) and tonight was a Rink of Shit.
35F: Christmas Wishlist
Here are some gift ideas for the 35 year old on your shopping list. These items help make life easier.
Give a gift to the men in need at the Ottawa Mission.
Here is a wish list of their Most Needed items - should you with to purchase anything from this list, it will be sent to my radio station (CHEZ 106, Rogers Sports and Media, located at 2001 Thurston Drive). CLICK HERE to buy something today & I will deliver it for you. You are also able to direct shipping to your house.
Air Purifiers. So hot right now.
These could be considered modern day ‘snake oil’ but when something very smelly sprayed my cottage and I couldn’t get the stink out… I gave this Hamilton Beach model a whirl and have since used it to rid the sour milk stink from our car (which was extreme) and refresh common areas in our house with great success! I am convinced that these things are the real deal but buyer beware: there are many brands and models out there to choose from. Lucky for me, I seem to have chosen wisely out the gate.
The Best Underwear: Period.
I had always been interested in ditching tampons and pads but they just seem to be a necessary evil. Until someone recommended Knix and flipped the script on free bleeding. You heard me. Comfiest underwear (and bras) ever. I would like one of each of this Canadian owned businesses’ offerings. They often have good sales, too. Not sure which size or style to purchase? Gift cards work.
Smart Devices make Life Easier.
Some people love ‘em, others hate ‘em and almost every tech company you can think of has something voice-activated on the market. Here are some of my favourite brands and suggested items that really elevate my quality of life. I’m physically disabled so every step matters in terms of pain management, energy conservation and accessibility.
Google: hub, mini, chromecast and display.
Globe: light bulbs and LED strip
Wyze: camera and plugs
Geeni: outdoor plug, smart strip (power bar) and wall tap
I tried getting into IKEA’s smart home line (Tradfri) but my experience with their hub, dimmers and bulbs was excruciating. Would not recommend.
Everyday Things.
Lip chap, toothpaste, gas & grocery cards, hair elastics, a good travel mug, socks, winter weather accessories or heated items for maximum comfort. Little things that get used every day always make a great gift because… they get used frequently and are likely to need replacing or replenishing.
There’s nothing terribly flashy about My Wishlist this year. If you are hoping to purchase a gift for someone like me (35F, mom, FT career, commuter), I would suggest grabbing something that helps to make their life easier. I think this advice could apply to anyone on your shopping list at any time of year. Pandemic life has been tiring. If you can’t think of anything your giftee needs, consider donating to a favorite charity in their name.
Here are some of my favourite charities: the Ottawa Mission, CHEO, Minwaashin Lodge, the Food Bank, the Ottawa Hospital and the Canadian Cancer Society. Leave yours in the comments below!
Vocal Issues and RA
My voice is affected by Rheumatoid Arthritis. It just is. I can’t “take a lozenge” or realistically do anything to improve the strain on my voice due to inflammation and pain. Not exactly ideal when you’re meal ticket IS your voice, which it is for me.
I’ve been living with Arthritis virtually my entire life (diagnosed in 1988) and I talk about it more now in hopes of letting other kids know that they are ‘normal’ and can achieve what others think is ‘impossible’. It’s not a matter of ‘thinking positively’ either, though I’m sure that couldn’t hurt. It’s about finding the right medical team, appropriate treatments (which can take years and do more harm than good), surgery and other methods of accommodating the painful, draining disease which often causes other painful, draining diseases or infections. If the RA itself doesn’t, the medicine almost certainly will.
My voice is struggling this week. I feel okay, overall, but it’s grading - to be told that my product (my voice) isn’t cutting it and to try again, try again, try again. The truth is, the more that I re-record or re-attempt something: the worse it will get.
If you accept me for my personality, you must also accept me as I sound. Some days I sound smooth. Other days, I sound rough. It has been this way my whole life and awareness is appreciated. You don’t have to like me or accept me, we all have our preferences and there’s nothing wrong with that, but at 35 - this is how I sound.