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Case for Support
"Nearly 6 million or 1 in 5 Canadians today are likely to experience a
diagnosable mental illness"
Mental health consumers experience difficulties in attaining and maintaining
employment due to the cyclical nature of their illness.
"Over 70 percent of people with a mental illness are unemployed,
under-employed or in jeopardy of losing employment."
Self-employment is a viable option that enables mental health consumers to
improve their standard of living and have a more positive presence in the
community.
Opportunity Works
In our thirteenth year of operation, Opportunity Works offers the only
self-employment program tailored to mental health consumers in Western
Canada.
Community Impact
Our participants often have nowhere else to turn. Some have never been
employed and many have experienced mental health issues in a way that has
kept them from being employed for long periods of time.
Opportunity Works participants deal with a variety of debilitating issues
including ongoing mental health concerns, unemployment, subsistence living,
isolation, despair and shattered self-confidence and self-esteem.
Through our program, participants develop a strong sense of community, often
for the first time in their lives, as well as an alternative and sustainable
source of income, allowing them to enhance their quality of life.
Click here to learn more about Opportunity Works
and ways you can help (PDF)
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