Jayden was born with genetic disabilities that have made even the simplest things in life a bigger challenge than normal. Yet his attitude to life is “This is me and I can do anything!” With his Nan Tina at his side and the tenacity to do the impossible, Jayden is conquering the world one challenge at a time.
When Tina heard Jayden needed to do some work experience as part of his Towards Independence Program with Ready Up Skills she contacted long-time friend Emma to see if Church 4 Life Clothing Collectors had a place for him. Seeing as Tina and Jayden were fantastic supporters of Zaylee when she went through her cancer journey, Emma was delighted to be able to return the favour and help Jayden.
Jayden brought his support worker Brad (left in picture) to come and help sort through donations at our warehouse a few hours each week. This got Jayden excited to earn his forklift ticket. It took a lot of effort for him to learn the theory and maths of forklifting and after his initial training, Emma coached Jayden through the practical side of forklifting and even setting up courses for him to conquer in our warehouse, so he went to his final test prepared.
There were smiles and tears of joy when Jayden passed his forklift test! A lot of people don’t get their forklift ticket first go but Jayden did! He is a hero!
When Jayden brought Brad with him to do work experience, Brad saw that there is opportunity for other young men to get some skills and work experience, so we have also had the pleasure of helping Sam and Declan start their careers, and hopefully many more to come.
Jayden wants people with disabilities to know “It is possible! You can do anything, if you are willing to give it a go and work hard.”
We are honoured to have Jayden here and love his cheerful attitude and will be both delighted and sad when his career takes him elsewhere in the future.
Tina’s phone call and Jayden courage to try work experience has changed the lives of Jayden, Sam and Declan and more as they get work experience with Church 4 Life Charities.
#1000LivesChanged #thisisme #disability #workexperience
