Lorie Mae Dixon.
Lorie Mae Dixon (right) works along side Sarah Cerezo at Options Mississauga copy centre in Port Credit. Options Mississauga is a social enterprise organization that hires people with intellectual disabilities and trains them in a variety of retail opportunities.
Staff photo by Nikki Wesley
Corinne Lozada, Robert Ditchburn and Lori Mae Dixon have each found their rose garden.
Two discovered it inside a bustling print shop, while the other found it in a cafe redolent of roasted coffee beans.
Lozada's battle with depression a few years ago pushed the 29-year-old into an abyss of hopelessness.
“It was an overwhelming feeling of sadness,” Lozada recalls. “I would get sick in the stomach and couldn't eat. I cried all the time and reacted to everything differently. My stomach would just roll...I cried and cried.”
Depression wasn't the only hurdle Lozada faced in finding a job.
Lozada's elfin appearance is the result of a rare genetic illness, whose symptoms include an unusually cheerful demeanor and ease with strangers, coupled with unpredictable negative outbursts.
Her intellectual disability became a barrier to employment.
Bill Penny, general manager of Options Mississauga, a printing and photocopying social enterprise store, says if people with intellectual disabilities are placed into jobs in a real competitive environment, it doesn't often work out because the organizations often fail to provide the additional support required for successful employment.
At Options, Lozada's job is relatively stress-free. She helps the supervisor with mailing, photocopying and customer service without fear of recrimination.
“At my job in the retail store, I was expected to dress in a certain way, talk in a certain way...I wasn't sure what they wanted me to do,” she said. “And one day, they just told me it wasn't working. I was devastated.”
Determination in the aftermath of the depression helped Lozada alter the course of her life. As a trainee with Options, Lozada has reclaimed her self-esteem and confidence.
When she began training at Options, Lozada was too scared to make eye contact with the world outside.
“I have learned to manage my depression and I can handle situations better than I used to,” she said.
Options is mandated to make a profit, but also to help those with intellectual disabilities.
Penny calls it a win-win situation, one that helps employees realize they can succeed.
“While our employees gain confidence, which is a big thing, the public and businesses that use our services see individuals working in an inclusive environment and it changes their views," he said.
In another corner at Options, Dixon's unwavering gaze remains fixed on the computer screen in front of her.
Her short brown hair and smooth, unlined skin gives her face a child-like appearance. Whatever Dixon's intellectual disabilities, they're not at play; instead, the supportive staff helps her celebrate accomplishments.
Dixon has very few demands. She lives in a group home and in the evening surrounds herself with music and, oblivious to the world, she dances.
“I love dancing and music,” she said.
Options Mississauga was formed in 1993 by concerned parents who wanted a place for their children once they left high school. But from a training ground to a fledgling business, Options has re-invented itself to become a successful, sustainable business.
A few blocks from Options, a cafe sells organic and fair trade coffee. And, socially conscientious patrons who grab a cup of free trade coffee experience something else, too — a rare glimpse of dignity and quiet pride in the faces of the employees who take their orders.
Like Options, DestinationCafe.ca is a profit-making, small business run by Supportive Housing In Peel (SHIP). It provides a safe, supportive environment for individuals with mental illness.
“DestinationCafe is first and foremost a business,” said Mary Craig, the company's community relations manager. “The cafe employees have an opportunity to work in an environment that is equivalent to other businesses.
“This is a sustainable business model because you can't keep asking for funds,” Craig continued. “Who doesn't feel good about creating a successful business that provides opportunity for growth. We're not only helping the local community, but economies in Africa and South America with our fair trade coffee business.”
Craig said providing employment for those with mental illness helps them with self-esteem.
Ditchburn, who works at the cafe, had not been working for some time due to mental health issues before he started at DestinationCafe. Nearly two years later, he credits his job for changing his life.
“I was apprehensive at first,” he said. “Especially working in the front line of a business. But it has grown on me and created a lot of skills that I didn't have before.”
CafeDestination's objective from the beginning was one of self-reliance. The cafe's physical transformation was completed by an army of volunteers, said Janice Peters, SHIP chief operating officer.
“How do we best optimize the strengths of the individual to develop a model? This model could be transferred to any social enterprise building anyone else is developing,” said Peters.
Both social enterprise organizations recently received grants from the United Way of Peel.
rpanjwani@mississauga.net