New Year, New Era for Causeway

Dear Causeway Community,

In the New Year, Causeway is embarking on a bold new chapter of employment and pre-employment programming, designed to meet the needs of people experiencing mental health-related barriers to work.

Causeway has over 45 years of experience providing person-centred employment support to people experiencing mental health challenges. Over this time, we have gained an understanding of the varied needs of our program participants, some of whom are not immediately ready to work, or can only work a certain number of hours in a week. We strongly believe that with the right support, these individuals can prosper.

This is why we are excited to announce that we will be scaling up our employment support drop-in, and introducing pre-employment workshops to help people with employment barriers gain confidence, skills, and strategies to become job-ready. Both of these employment and pre-employment support programs will be available through our Employment Resource Centre, where job-seekers can get help applying for jobs, preparing for interviews, and maintaining employment.

In addition, as you may be aware, Ontario is undergoing an Employment Services Transformation, which involves the introduction of an integrated employment service delivery model, housed under Employment Ontario. Causeway has chosen not to move forward under this transformation, and will no longer be part of the Employment Ontario network as of December 31, 2023. Instead, we are forging a path forward to allow us the flexibility to continue serving people with diverse needs and a combination of employment barriers, at each person’s own pace. We will continue to work closely with the Employment Ontario network to help people get the support they need to prepare for work, and we are committed to exploring innovative partnership opportunities with the many community organizations that are part of the integrated employment services network.

Taken together, these changes will provide us with the flexibility to adapt and pace the support we provide based on unique needs and ensure that no one who wants to work is left behind. We remain committed to our mission of building better communities by employing each person’s abilities. Along with our new employment and pre-employment offerings, supported employment opportunities through our social enterprises continue, as does our Solutions for Youth program, our partnership with Rise for budding entrepreneurs, and our wrap-around supports including the Wellness Centre and Community Supports. A comprehensive overview of Causeway’s programming can be seen in this diagram.

If you have any questions, please contact Sharon Lewis at slewis@causewayworkcentre.org.

Together, let’s build working communities where everyone is invaluable.

Sincerely,

Causeway Work Centre