Kara gets her dream job in open employment

This year’s Zero Discrimination Day, celebrated on 1 March 2021, aims to raise awareness about the discrimination faced by women, particularly when intersecting with other forms of discrimination, including disability.

The day also seeks to promote equality and empowerment for women and girls.

To celebrate Zero Discrimination Day this year, we are profiling Kara – a former Yooralla supported employee, who recently landed her “dream job” in open employment, thanks to the skills she developed working at the Yooralla Business Enterprise – Seymour.

Kara, who’s always been passionate about coffee, now works as a barista at a busy café.

“This is a real dream come true! I love coffee and I love meeting new people. No day is ever the same at my job, meaning I always learn new things, which I love,” said Kara.

Kara accepted work at the Yooralla Business Enterprise – Seymour straight after graduating from high school.

“Over my time at Yooralla, I’ve learnt some very important job skills that eventually enabled me to get my job as a barista,” said Kara.

As part of her training at the Business Enterprise, Kara completed a course developed to build participants’ confidence to transition into open employment.

Roselee Judge-Williams, Site Coordinator at the Business Enterprise, said that learning “on-the-job” skills was an important step towards moving into open employment.

“The program is delivered in a hands-on learning environment in a community-based, real-life work setting and participants are grouped with people of a similar age, with similar interests,” said Roselee.

Kara’s training included employment goal setting, job matching and selection, travel training to get to work, working unsupervised and teamwork.

Kara said that having the opportunity to try a variety of different jobs in a variety of settings made her realise what kind of job she wanted after the program.

“I really love working with other people as part of a team and I also love meeting lots of new people – and my job offers both. Working at Yooralla I also developed the confidence and social skills that are so important for working at a busy café,” she said.

Roselee said that the team was proud of Kara and often would go to visit her café for “best in town” flat whites.

“We miss Kara, she was a great worker and an important part of our team, but we are so happy she found a job she loves. They are very lucky to have her,” said Roselee.

Kara said she was very grateful for all the support she received from Yooralla.

“I’d like to use this as an opportunity to thank Roselee. She was really lovely to work with and was a great support to get me into my job,” said Kara.

Learn more about Yooralla’s Business Enterprises.