INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / December 10, 1991

 

 

Students, employers matched up in College program

 

 

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Dariush Monfred is a graduate of Douglas College’s Consumer &
Job Preparation program. He is a valued employee of Baxter
Corporation, a Burnaby health care supply company.

He started in the mail room, but
these days Dariush Monfred is
being entrusted with more respon-
sibilities and challenges at a major
B.C. health care supply facility.

In fact, there seems to be a per-
fect fit between Baxter Corporation
and Monfred since he joined the
Burnaby company last May as a
graduate of Douglas College’s Con-
sumer and Job Preparation Program.

The program for adults with spe-
cial needs is designed to benefit
both students and employers. The
success of Monfred at Baxter — he
was hired as a regular employee fol-
lowing his three-week job
exploration — shows just how well
the program can work.

“Dariush really is a valued
employee. We would hate to lose
him,” says Distribution Manager
Ron Hamfelt.

Bobbie Boehm, faculty member
in Consumer and Job Preparation,
says the key to success is in match-
ing up the needs of employers with
the right student. She hopes the suc-
cess of workers such as Monfred
will encourage other adults with spe-
cial needs and employers to find out
more about the program.

“The program means students
can contribute to their own per-
sonal support and become
integrated, independent people in
the community,” says Boehm. “The
business gets a reliable worker, one
who is dependable and loyal. They
do a good job.”

Monfred, who is dealing with a
speech impediment, enroled in the
program last March. His goal was
to work in an office environment.

“I like it,” says Monfred, a native
of Iran who is fluent in Farsi, Spanish
and English. “I worked as a volun-
teer in a school library in San Jose,
California. | saw that it’s the kind of
work | like.”

 

After three months of prep-
aratory training at Douglas College,
Monfred joined Baxter in May. His
duties included filing and sorting the
“tons” of mail received at the
facility, which is the international
company’s regional head office and
main manufacturing/distribution
centre for Western Canada.

Monfred is regarded as an ex-
tremely conscientious worker —
even when it comes to putting the
GST stamp on hundreds of com-
pany documents. He is always
neatly dressed, and hasn’t missed a
day’s work through his first seven
months on the job.

One of the major goals of the
Consumer and Job Preparation
Program is to develop social and
human awareness skills to allow stu-
dents to get along better in both the
job site and community. Monfred
made great strides forward in this
area, gaining skills that would later
send a strong message to his
employer.

“When someone starts with a
new company they will often sit by
themselves during breaks, and so
would Dariush until he was en-
couraged to start sitting with other
people during lunch,” recalls Ham-
felt. “It takes courage for anyone to
do that, but Dariush made the effort
and that made an impression on
me. He works very hard to fit in and
to get to know people. It shows he
takes his responsibilities seriously.”

In fact, Monfred takes his respon-
sibilities so seriously, and deals with

Monfred continued on page 6

 

 

 

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