AN INDIE IS:
Shaun Cameron, changemaker
Shaun Cameron, program coordinator, Direct Access Employment
“I don’t know what to do.” These are words Shaun Cameron hears almost daily.
They come from people who want to join the workforce but need help overcoming barriers to reaching that goal.
However, they have taken the most import step on that journey when they called on Shaun, who is the program coordinator for Direct Access Employment.
“We help people with self declared disabilities get the skills and tools they need to find and maintain employment,” he says. “And best of all, our services are free.”
The six-month-old pilot project is housed within Career Connections.
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The non profit organization provides support and employment services for people with special and unique needs.
Direct Access Employment came into being when Career Connections saw the need for a stand-alone agency that could help those who don’t qualify for their services.
And, they had someone at hand to coordinate the project.
If you were setting down the qualities needed for this job, you would describe someone like Shaun.
An Employment Facilitator at Career Connections, since 2010, he has the experience needed.
But more than that, Shaun has an easy-going manner that puts people at ease.
Having reached out to him, you feel confident that he will help you succeed.
“We see two or three new faces a week,” Shaun says. “The barriers people face are either skills-based or they have a disability.”
Resume development, interview preparation, role playing and learning how to market yourself are among the services offered.
“Brandon businesses have been tremendous in opening their doors,” says Shaun.
So far, he has successfully nurtured twelve clients’ entry into the workforce.
There is a twelve-week follow-up as part of the service.
The pilot project has funding, through a federal government grant, until January 2016.
In his day job, Shaun works to help people get ahead.
After hours, he spends time as a community volunteer and ‘media guy.’
As a Brandon Sun columnist, Shaun comments on topics of local interest and when there is an issue to be addressed, provides a possible solution.
That’s what you do when you want to move your community forward.
While the Brandon Sun column feeds Shaun’s inner writer, the photographer and freelance documentary maker produces projects for MTS TV Stories from Home.
Indieo Today’s Indie Docs feature is one of his recent projects. End of the Line – The Brandon Municipal Railway story, chronicles Brandon’s street car era (1913-1932).
Other projects include Tales from the Eddy, Hidden Manitoba, Performance & Place and the patchworks series.
Shaun appreciates the value of looking at the past to understand the present.
As a self-described ‘avid local historian’ working on a project such as End of the Line is satisfying as it offers insight into the actions of past residents who shaped our city.
As the past board chair of Renaissance Brandon, Shaun endeavoured to help preserve the ‘concrete’ aspects of local history.
Being a past member of the community theatre scene helped him develop as a writer, director and filmmaker.
Shaun is currently board chair at Valleyview Community Centre and a member of the City of Brandon Central Council of Community Centres.
Our city is fortunate to have residents such as Shaun, who believes in Brandon, appreciates its strengths and works to change barriers to its well-being.
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Today’s Throwback
West End Park
with Park School visible in the background.
Source: Albertype Company/Library and Archives Canada/PA-031620
photo courtesy of Heritage Brandon
Do you need a multivitamin?
Corey Calverly, co-owner, Hedley’s Health Hut
Clearly, the best way to get nutrients such as vitamins and minerals is through a healthy diet.
Fruits and vegetables, legumes, lean meats, fish and dairy products are among the foods most dense in nutrients for maintaining daily health.
The vitamins and minerals found in these foods are in a form that our bodies recognize and easily absorb.
While this is the ideal situation, a multivitamin can play a role in our daily lives for a number of reasons:
• Daily diet realities: While the diet outlined above sounds wonderful, it’s rarely reality.
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Most of us deal with busy schedules and don’t always eat the way we should.
Processed foods that are high in unhealthy fats and sugars, dominate our culture and are designed to appeal to our taste buds not our nutritional health.
A multivitamin can act as insurance to make sure our body is getting the base amount of vitamins and minerals every day for optimal health, no matter what direction the day’s diet goes.
• Stress: The modern Canadian lifestyle is stressful.
Balancing family and work demands combined with insufficient sleep and relaxation leaves our bodies, minds and immune systems vulnerable to running down.
Getting consistent nutritional support can help us get through unexpected or prolonged stressful periods.
• High performance: Those of us who are active and working out physically (or mentally) at high levels demand more out of our bodies.
This extra activity uses up more nutrients.
A multivitamin can help to top up even a healthy diet to help our body perform at its upper potential.
HEDLEY’S HEALTH HUT
Multi-vitamin