The first time Chris, who lost her eye sight when she was a child, heard about the Neil Squire Society was through a friend, but Chris wasn’t ready to visit the Neil Squire Society just yet. The second time she heard about the Neil Squire Society was when Chris Wright, Employ-Ability Program Coordinator, and Anu Pala, Career Facilitator/Job Developer, spoke at the Surrey Public Library (new window). All Chris could think was, “not another program that wants to ‘help’”. However, the name Neil Squire Society kept popping up in Chris’ life. Eventually curiosity got the best of her and Chris visited the Neil Squire Society to check out the programs they offered.
Chris started out in the Job Focus and Computer Comfort Programs and once feeling comfortable, started to plan out her career goals in the Employ-Ability Program. Five years later, with much dedication and job research, Chris realized what she wanted to do, Massage Therapy (new window). While discovering the different avenues of Massage Therapy, Chris found the one right for her, Chair Massage (new window).
Chair Massage is a new and growing field which focuses on giving clients an upper body massage. The schooling is shorter than registered Massage Therapy and this was very appealing for Chris. In addition to schooling, Chris has to do 25 practical massages (new window), and lucky for the staff at the Neil Squire Society,
Chris is doing her practical massages here!
Chris’s ultimate goal is to be an Animal Masseuse (new window). With six cats, and two dogs, you can see where Chris’s passion lies. Unfortunately Animal Massage has not hit Canada yet, so Chris will focus on Chair Massages and keep upgrading her schooling.
“It was a great idea to go to the Neil Squire Society. I always did volunteer work and now I will be in a paid position at the end of March”, Chris says with much excitement, Loti, her seeing-eye dog (new window), by her side. Chris’ commitment, hard work, and a little help from the Neil Squire Society, allowed Chris to “figure out what I wanted to do!”
Chris will eventually be self-employed and looking for new clients. The staff at the Neil Squire Society had the opportunity to have a chair massage and let’s just say, we would gladly recommend Chris to everyone!
If you would like to make a donation to support others like Chris, you may do so here.