Meet Amanda
Still loving it after all these years
Paris, ON — Over a decade since The Raw Carrot first opened, Amanda still talks about how work still makes her so happy. Working gives her purpose and a reason to get up in the morning. She gets to go out into the community and hang out with people she likes.
Amanda was one of the original staff hired when The Raw Carrot first opened. “It’s still pretty happy here and that’s why I’m excited to come to work,” Amanda says smiling, “It gets me out of the house and gives me a stable schedule and helps with bills, groceries, pets, etc. The only problem is I wish I could have more hours.”
Karen was Amanda’s manager at the Paris, Ontario site, and shares fondly about the transformation she witnessed in Amanda’s life. After a brief departure from work, she’s back in the kitchen again.
“Upon Amanda’s return to the kitchen in 2019 she lacked confidence in her ability even though she’d worked with us in the past. She was also very quiet and withdrawn. We are now seeing the true Amanda: happy, funny, confident, great laugh,” says Karen. “She is training to take over the cooking of the soups should we need her and she’s doing really well.”
Amanda goes on about how much she enjoys working, “I like working a lot. I like doing things with people and I’m always excited to come to The Raw Carrot and joke around with my friends,” she says.
Before The Raw Carrot was launched, there were a number of people like Amanda at the church—people who were marginalized because of disability or mental health challenges, some accessing the church’s benevolent fund to make ends meet. While they had the potential and expressed a desire to work, they faced multiple employment barriers in the traditional workplace. Moved with compassion, Rebecca and Colleen (The Raw Carrot Co-Founders) created a social enterprise out of the church kitchen to fill the employment gaps for people like Amanda.
Amanda says that before she worked at The Raw Carrot, “I felt kind of stupid and that I was a bump on a log. It’s a very fun place to be, everyone makes you feel welcome.”
Amanda moved away for a few years and wasn’t able to work at The Raw Carrot. She recalls how much she missed working here during that time. She really disliked her other job and was so thrilled to return to town and get her old position back, “I definitely felt the difference when I came back and my life changed for the better.”
Karen proudly talks about Amanda’s future, “We’ve just started talking about what jobs she might like outside of The Raw Carrot; looking to more traditional employment. Amanda is always willing and ready to help out with shows, sales, whatever we need. She’s a hard-working, dependable and loyal.”
Working at The Raw Carrot changed the course of Amanda’s life. She said, it’s hard for people with disabilities to get jobs because they often experience discrimination. “The Raw Carrot gives people with disabilities a chance. People who are just like anyone else, just a little different,” Amanda confidently says, “Different is good.”
Stories like Amanda’s show that when someone receives a hand up through supported work and a place to belong, they thrive. We invite you to get involved to help create more opportunities in even more communities across Canada.