Designing Possibilities

Did you ever feel like you were swimming against the current of a river? That every effort you exerted was still not enough to get the job done? That you were doing the same thing over and over again and never getting a different result? That something had to change?

When I first came to Ontario, Canada, from Brazil, I wondered what opportunities my new country could offer to a person with a disability. I began to find my answer over the weeks and months that followed. Although welcoming and diverse and on the move towards accessibility for all, Canada has an employment rate for persons with disabilities that stands at a discouraging 53.5% and job opportunities available to those with disabilities are few and far between. Especially this is the case for persons with more severe disabilities, including those who are blind and deaf.

My experience working as a job developer over the past year opened my eyes even wider to the challenges faced by a person with a disability who seeks to work. Although many companies advertise a commitment to employment equity and equal opportunity, it is difficult to see a translation of these positive statements into action. Even with community agency and government support and special needs accommodation provision, it remains exceedingly difficult to persuade an employer to extend a chance to a candidate with a disability. Good intentions abound but the fact remains that persons with disabilities have advanced almost not at all in the workplace over the past 50 years.

With this insight and my work experience in hand, I determined to start creating opportunities myself for persons with disabilities, by formation of a T-Shirt company staffed mainly by individuals with disabilities. The company is TEE TALENT and there are three main reasons for its existence:

-To be a profitable enterprise;

-To be a source of job opportunities for persons with disabilities;

-To be a model of a successful business to other businesses;

To capture this philosophy of doing business, I have picked the tag line ‘Designing Opportunities’. This connotes creation of cool designs for our t-shirts, but also, critically, creation of opportunities for persons with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities, like all others, deserve a life of dignity and the opportunity to make their unique contribution.

I will probably run the business by myself for while until we reach a level where I'm able to hire our first staff.

The money will be used to buy samples and prepare our online campaign.

My name is Carlos Fred Martins and lost my left foot in a Shark Attack when I was 15 years old in Recife, Brazil. I moved to Canada in February of 2014 as an immigrant. I would really appreciate your cooperation either donating or sharing this campaign.

Thank you