“Many of the people here go over to get their coffee and they’re met with a great smile, a lot of vibrancy, fantastic personalities. You don’t always connect the dots and think, This is a person with a disability. This is a person with a vibrant personality, who understands coffee, who is offering wonderful hospitality,” says David Jack, CEO of TLC Impact.
In this episode of Helping Hands, we join the TLC Impact team in their partnership with Business Chambers South who ran a Job and Skills Expo in the Sutherland Shire attended by more than 450 people earlier this year, and spend time with Salim, a member of the TLC team who serves more than just a cup of coffee!
“The TLC Impact team goes everywhere,” says Australian TLC Disability Services CEO, Laura Cowell. “The purpose isn’t just about serving coffee. It’s actually about ensuring that we are making a difference, and educating, and challenging the norm in the community.”
TLC barista, Salim, is a much-loved member of the TLC Impact team, and enjoys serving coffee to people at the social events, community events and expos they attend.
“It’s about making the people happy, about what they want, about the caffeine that they need. The people need their caffeine to be awake and alert,” says Salim while making a cup of coffee for the Mayor of the Sutherland Shire.
The TLC Impact team bring disability employment to the forefront of business agendas. They believe every person has ability, everyone can learn skills for employment, and they want more businesses to understand how to provide employment opportunities for people who are living with a disability.
It all starts with a better understanding of how to engage with, support and train people with a disability to integrate into the everyday running of a business, says David.
“Our role is to provide a microcosm of what employment can be for people with disability and hopefully inspire others to follow our lead … Having an opportunity (for people with disability) to be able to be involved in a meaningful role serving, participating, is critical to wellbeing, to one’s sense of identity.”
TLC is working to eliminate the siloed nature of current employment pathways by making disability support available at every level of employment and across all industries and vocations - from recruitment to training to employer support.
The impact of TLC’s groundbreaking work is two-fold, says TLC Founder and Global CEO, Yasser Zaki. Businesses gain the benefits for their workplace, staff and operations of employing inclusively, and people with disability are provided with opportunities to live fulfilling and meaningful lives.
“The impact of it is that the (people who are living with a disability) go out there with pride. They talk about what they’re earning, and what they’re delivering, and how they’re communicating, rather than what they’re taking, and what’s given to them and feeling sorry for themselves. The narrative and the language is completely different, and that creates pride for all of us.”
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