CITY CENTRE — Tineke Donovan is working the best job she's ever had. The barista has been working at Blenz Coffee shop in Central City Shopping Centre for just under a year, but it was a difficult road to get where she is today.
Donovan suffers from anxiety and depression, and it has been a struggle for her to deal with it in the past.
"I can take (people's) body language a whole other way and get really anxious about it. It kind of makes me flustered and I'll just make mistake after mistake after mistake. It's kind of embarrassing," Donovan admitted.
But thanks to the Partners for Work Inclusion Program (PWIP), she has been able to find a job she enjoys.PWIP is a program from the Canadian Council on Rehab and Work, which is funded by the federal government.
The program is geared towards helping people with short-term training, such as FOODSAFE, WHIMIS and forklift training.
Yenny Paez, the employment outreach specialist with PWIP, believes that they are about "bridging the gap" between the employer and the client.
"A lot of the time, the problems can be easily solved through effective communication," Paez said.
"We encourage (clients) to talk to us if they've had a bad day at work."
One of the key benefits the program offers is subsidizing up to 50 per cent of the employees wages for 12 weeks.
After losing her job at a local eatery, Donovan knows that communication between employers and employees is key and is thankful to the team at PWIP for ensuring that everyone is happy withDonovan's employment.
"Even though I'm no longer subsidized, they still keep track and keep in contact. It's actually a really good support system for that," said Donovan. But the program kept in touch with her boss and told her that she had nothing to worry about.When she lost her previous job, Donovan went to visit her mother in Squamish and said it was one of the lowest points of her life.
"I was hyperventilating. When you consider yourself such a valuable employee, then all of a sudden, they tell you goodbye. Who will cut all the lettuce? I did that," Donovan joked.
She was the first person Tony Lopes - the franchise owner of Blenz Coffee Central City - hired through the program, even though he was a little uncertain at first.
"She wasn't really polished and came across a little bit on the rough side. I wasn't sure how she would be accepted by customers," Lopes said.
"She's quite a tall girl who can seem a little overwhelming, but she's really soft natured, a good listener and really shy."I love her and I think the customers do as well. It's kind of don't judge a book by it's cover type of approach," Lopes added.
Even though she has to deal with anxiety and depression, Lopes said Donovan remains professional and doesn't show those issues when she is helping customers.
"She's definitely one that falls off a bicycle and wants to hop straight back on. I've seen it many times. Customers give her a real tough time and she kind of goes in the back, shakes her head a few times, comes out and she's forgotten it," said Lopes.
When she was younger, Donovan was not one to "take a handout" but now she's more willing to accept help.
"As a teenager, I wasn't really willing to accept help from society. I would be more willing now. I kept constantly denying it and then I was just left alone after a while," Donovan said.
She is working 36 hours a week at Blenz.