Dave’s Story : Growing Skills and Friendship

“I always feel good at the end of the day, because I know I’ve done something right.” says Dave. “I hadn’t really worked in a number of years, but now I’m working again and feel a lot better.”

Coast’s Education and Employment services help folks like Dave who are recovering from mental illness to master new skills, find their place in the community, and build financial independence. Training for work or returning to work are both milestones for recovery – and these milestones point the way to a more independent future. 

Dave first came to Coast’s Education and Employment services the way many clients do – through free meals at Coast’s Clubhouse. Thanks to generous donors, the Clubhouse is one of two community hubs in Vancouver that offer members walk-in support services, job training, and friendship. To participate at the Clubhouse, clients become members who contribute to the community and work with an employment counselor. While at the Clubhouse, members can enjoy a warm meal, participate in activities, and use the free laundry facilities.

Dave started talking to other members during meals, and volunteering. “I washed dishes (every lunch hour) for a couple of months. I just came in, did a couple of hours then left. So I got to know some nice people here.” he explains. With all kinds of opportunities and a supportive atmosphere, clients can move at their own pace to build the skills they’re interested in.

Members like Dave can choose from three employment units: food services, environment, or communication. Two employment programs are also run from the Clubhouse: Coast On-Site Solutions – a street cleaning team that serves over 20 clients in the community – and the Transitional Employment Program (TEP). Both of these programs are designed specifically to help folks recovering from mental illness to gain work experience in a supportive environment. Members can try various jobs without the stress of interviews, and are trained by a staff member they know from Coast. Programs that support clients transitioning back to work and life in the community are made possible thanks to steady support from our donors. 

For Dave, the training offered by TEP helped him get back to work. “We did a short course on working different jobs.” explains Dave, “We just learned basically about pressure washing, or planting, or mowing lawns and stuff. It was an introduction course to being able to work. After that I started out with Landscaping With Heart.” 

Landscaping with Heart is one of Coast’s social enterprises. It offers clients professional pruning, power raking, leaf raking and removal, seeding, weeding, edge trimming, fertilizing, mowing and lawn aeration, and spring and fall clean-up. 

“I like working with Landscaping With Heart,” says Dave. “I always meet nice new people.” 

One of those people is Bradon, a Coast worker who’s helped Dave build confidence and friendship. “Bradon’s a good guy,” says Dave. “He helps me with my self esteem and working. He’s the one who showed me how to do this thing, the pressure washing. I knew about lawn mowing before, but pressure washing is new for me. Now I’m getting to be an old hand at it. He helps me just by being himself. We just get along pretty good together and we work together.”

Bradon offers: “Dave’s learning to play the guitar.” 

“I just started learning Heart of Gold by Neil Young [on the guitar],” agrees Dave. “Bradon’s teaching me.”

For Dave, a typical day now looks like this: “We get picked up, I meet Bradon here [at the Clubhouse] at 8 or 8:30 in the morning and we just load the pressure washer and the whirly-whirly that we have and a couple of different things we have to pressure wash. And we go out and work until 2-2:30, 3 pm at the latest, then we come back to the Clubhouse and I take the bus and the Skytrain home.”

For Dave, the future is bright.

“I got a lot of self-esteem happening from the job. So I feel more confident now. And whenever this is all over, I’ll be able to look for another job. I can put this on my resume. I’m going to stay with it for as long as I can.”