OTTAWA, Oct. 6 /CNW Telbec/ - Ken Dryden, Minister of Social Development,today announced funding of $970,773 for a project with the National Networkfor Mental Health to help Canadians with disabilities gain employment. "A mental disability can shut the employment door. Yet people withdisabilities learn to adapt, to use what they can do, to do the job asked ofthem," said Minister Dryden. "A program like this gets them inside theemployment door, giving them a chance, allowing employers to see all that theycan do." This project, Opening Doors: Building Employment Capacity for MentalHealth Consumers/Survivors, gives people with disabilities a chance to gainskills through training, career counselling and work experience. The Government of Canada supports this project through the OpportunitiesFund for Persons with Disabilities. The purpose of the Opportunities Fund isto help people with disabilities to prepare for, obtain, and keep employmentor self-employment. It supports a broad array of employment projects forpeople with disabilities who are unemployed and who are not normally eligiblefor employment benefits under the Employment Insurance Act. This funding is going towards the BUILT Network program operated by theNational Network for Mental Health. BUILT provides ongoing programs in fivecities across Canada to help people with a mental disability develop jobskills in customer service and enter the workforce. The funding also supportsonline access to the program for Canadians who live in underserved and/orremote communities. Funding for this initiative was in the February 2005 federal budget andis built into the existing fiscal framework. These projects have been reviewedto ensure compliance with the Department's administration of its grants andcontributions program. This news release and backgrounder are available in alternative formats,on request. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities The Government of Canada's $30 million Opportunities Fund helps peoplewith disabilities to prepare for, obtain and keep employment or self-employment. The program is for people with disabilities who have hadlittle or no labour force experience and who therefore do not normally qualifyfor assistance under Part II of the Employment Insurance Act. The Opportunities Fund works in partnership with organizations for peoplewith disabilities, including the private sector, to support an array ofactivities such as encouraging employers to hire workers with disabilities,increasing the employment skills of people with disabilities, providing workexperience, and helping them start their own business. For details, visit the Social Development Canada website at www.sdc.gc.ca or contact your local Service Canada Centre. National Network for Mental Health Opening Doors: Building Employment Capacity for Mental Health Consumers/Survivors nationally $970,773 Through this national Opportunities Fund project, the National Networkfor Mental Health provides a seven week skills development program that iscontinually available to participants in four regions across Canada andprovides participants with real employment placements. It also provides an online interactive component of the BUILT Networkprogram to increase the participation of people with mental health issues inremote and northern locations. By the end of the project, it is expected that 280 people with mentalhealth issues will have registered for employment programming and 192 willhave found employment. The online component will serve 40 and secureemployment for 15 of these participants. To date, 149 clients have been servedthrough the BUILT project and, of these, 61 have found employment. The National Network for Mental Health has more than 13 years ofexperience in assisting people with mental health issues. Through thisproject, the network is providing knowledge and skills developmentopportunities and support to adults who are currently experiencing a mentalillness, or have experienced a mental illness at some time during their life,and need to rebuild their skills and confidence.

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