The Neil Squire Society (new window)’s Atlantic regional office recently had the opportunity to attend a career fair at Eastern College, an institution dedicated to providing practical and intensive job skill training for the career success of their students. The Neil Squire Society (new window) was one of eighteen other businesses and organizations that exhibited at the event. However, the Neil Squire Society (new window)’s presence was somewhat unique. While most other exhibitors were there to recruit potential employees, the Neil Squire Society (new window) was there to provide information and offer our services to individuals with disabilities.

This was a large event and close to 200 people, both students and college staff, visited the Neil Squire Society (new window) booth. Of those, only two had heard about the Neil Squire Society (new window) before. What a feat! In only one day, almost 200 additional people learned about the Neil Squire Society (new window) , our mandate, and our services. Even more exciting is that this is a number that will continue to grow as these people share the information they received with their family, friends, and other members of the community.

Students devoured the information provided by Heather Hughes, the administrative assistant at our Atlantic Regional office in Fredericton (new window), as she worked the Neil Squire Society (new window) booth at the career fair. In total, Heather handed out more than 80 brochures for all program areas— Employ-Ability, Job Focus, Neil Squire Solutions, and Computer Comfort. Better still, she saw students’ faces light up when they realized that there are actually people and organizations dedicated to helping people with disabilities live independent lives and become active members of the workplace and society. Many were so inspired that even though the Neil Squire Society (new window) was not actively recruiting potential employees, they still wanted to become involved with the Neil Squire Society (new window) in some way. Many left their resumes, and some even offered to volunteer or do their field placement with our organization.

The Neil Squire Society (new window)’s attendance at the Eastern College, career fair was a very worthwhile experience. We were able to get the word out about who we are and all the great things that we do. We were able to connect with a pool of talented and well-trained volunteers, interns, and maybe even potential employees. And perhaps even more significantly, we were able to be a representative of the disability community, whose presence is not always apparent, but is always present.