CIUSSS creates partnership with Montreal school to help teenage interns enter workforce
One day recently, Food Services Chief Anna Dimitrakopoulos introduced her team to its newest member: Jousel Balba, a shy teenager with a disability who dreamed of entering the workforce.
“Let’s make him feel welcome,” Ms. Dimitrakopoulos told staff in the JGH kitchen. “Treat him like he’s part of our family.”
In no time, they did. Employees began to teach Jousel the ropes—such as how to portion out food on trays, clean dishes, and distribute meals on trolleys to hospital nursing units. Two employees in particular—sisters Dung Ly Thi My and Hang Ly Thi My—offered so much care and encouragement that Jousel came to call them “my two moms.”
It was part of an innovative arrangement between our CIUSSS’s Academic Affairs and Research Ethics Directorate, which set up the internship for Jousel, and a Montreal school that helps prepare students for the job market.
And after its launch in mid-March, the initiative proved a major success.
Jousel’s placement worked out so well that the 19-year-old, who lives with a language disorder known as dysphasia, has been officially hired as a Food Services Attendant at the JGH. The other student who began her internship at the same time, 19-year-old Maryna Colucci, gained valuable training in the JGH cafeteria. Coached by Food Services Attendant Sylvie Lahaie, she learned to make coffee, toast bagels and handle soup and sandwich service. Maryna lives with a mild intellectual disability.
It was a win-win partnership for both our CIUSSS and the students. Managers got to see the interns in action with an eye to possible employment, while the teens gained real-life work skills such as how to respect schedules and operate in a team. Ms. Dimitrakopoulos says the arrangement has been extremely gratifying.
“These young adults might have had a harder time integrating into the workforce, so why not give them a chance? They’re hardworking. They have potential.”
Food Services Chief Anna Dimitrakopoulos
“They just need a bit of a helping hand, and we were pleased to give it,” Ms. Dimitrakopoulos says. “You have to take a chance and give a chance.”
Maryna and Jousel came to the JGH through the work integration program at École du SAS in Outremont, part of the Marguerite-Bourgeoys School Board. Isabelle Turcot, their teacher and internship supervisor, had previously placed students with companies such as Provigo and Walmart, but she was eager to try a large institutional setting.
Not only was CIUSSS West-Central Montreal receptive to her proposal, staff in the kitchen demonstrated a level of acceptance and support that went beyond anything she’d ever witnessed before, Ms. Turcot says.
“Everyone was welcoming and showed a desire to explain things. I’ve never seen anything like it. Your employees were extremely generous, and their patience was amazing.”
Isabelle Turcot, internship supervisor
Students in the school program can be vulnerable, and they need an environment that’s both reassuring and respectful, she says. They found both at the JGH.
“The students felt it from day 1,” she adds. “I have to congratulate the CIUSSS. You’re a great team.”
Laurence Boisvert, Manager for Teaching and Internships at Academic Affairs, received the request from École du SAS and helped set up the students’ placement—the first time she had arranged internships for people living with a disability within our CIUSSS. The experience was so positive that she hopes to expand it to other departments and services within the network.
The project meshed with our CIUSSS’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging mission, which seeks to continue building an environment in which people feel supported and valued while being treated with fairness and respect.
“We’re a CIUSSS that’s very open to diversity and inclusion,” she says. “This experience has demonstrated that people living with differences can integrate into our workplace. And our employees can be proud of the way they welcomed them on their team.”
The students found it gratifying as well. Maryna spoke enthusiastically about how cafeteria staff were patient in explaining her different duties. And Jousel beamed when asked about his internship. From a shy newcomer, he’s grown into a confident worker who socializes with his co-workers and pays meticulous attention to his tasks. “People have been very nice to me,” he says. “Everyone helped a lot.”
