Paul and WCG Transcript

Paul: Pluto is my source of motivation, my balance in the sense of hugging him just seems to put me back in the right way.

Trying to cope with the loss of two parents within a year and my sister unfortunately decided tell me I’m not to contact her, not to rely on her for any emotional support, I ended up in a shelter after making a tough decision to drop Pluto off at the Humane Society.

Avery: When we talk about Paul’s journey it was very unique. We had an individual who was motivated and very much wanting to move out of the crisis he was in.

Michael: In working with Paul, there was a sense of urgency, we need to get this done as fast as possible so that we could help improve his living situation.

Another part of that was trying our best to reunite him with his dog Pluto.

Paul: When I first met Michael, he gave me the very straight-forth approach about how this was going to work, how he was going to help me.

Michael: Focusing on culture for Paul I found to be incredibly important for him to be in an environment that would allow him the opportunity to grow yet work at a pace that was conducive to him and his disability.

Paul: When the actual job, the interviewer came, he wanted to do a walk around with me, he wanted to make sure it works out.

Michael: Being a service provider with Employment Ontario, transportation funding became very handy – work clothing, some new work boots, whatever supports were required to get everything he needed in order to attend the worksite.

Working with all seating and getting him into that particular employment opportunity was successful.

Carrie: We wanted to be able to provide Paul with meaningful employment, he’s a hard-working individual, we believed in him we knew collectively with hard work on Paul’s behalf, the unwavering support from Michael at the Bennett Edge and his team that we would get here.

Michael: We were there for Paul, but we were also there for the employer. Paul’s work and they way he worked, and the quality of his work was also a huge factor.

Carrie: The feedback that I would get from the production management team is oh my goodness, if you can find me three, four, five more Pauls, please, please – he’s amazing!

Michael: This one particular day I saw this gentleman walking towards me, standing tall – it was Paul.

Paul: As he was walking towards me, I just got this amazing feeling seeing the confidence and just seeing how happy he was – looked like a man that was on a mission. A man that had purpose.

When I got the news that I had gotten into the outreach program, so now I could have Pluto – that day was my happiest day of the year I’ve had in so long.

If I had lost him then I think I would have been lost forever.

Avery: His key to success is that he has learned to cope, better than most, and with that I know in the future he will thrive, he will flourish.

Paul: People don’t realise that we can work together doing this simple task, then other things shouldn’t be difficult. I feel more confident when we work together, we get this done faster, do more.

I find that achievement makes me feel like kind of giddy inside.