Bridging the Employment Gap: Carl's Story

Carl was born in New Westminster and was removed from his parents' care due to their alcohol use. He was placed in a few different foster homes until, at three and a half years old, he moved into his permanent foster home where he grew up with four foster siblings. When he was fifteen, his family moved to Alberta where he stayed to complete his college degree. He decided to follow his family back to BC afterwards and got his first job at McDonalds. Despite maintaining a full-time schedule in his 20s, the cost of living was too high. At times, he would even need to access the food bank as his whole paycheque would be spent on rent and bills. 

Growing up, Carl felt different than his peers but couldn't figure out why, until he realized he was trans. In 2011, he began his transition and, after making significant life changes to improve his health, he flew to Montreal to get gender affirming surgery. The surgery went well and Carl finally felt like his real self, sharing, "When I started to transition, I was happy, because then I thought, now I can finally be who I truly am and it made a big difference.” During his transition, Carl was also attending a peer support course at Coast Mental Health and worked as a peer support worker until March 2024. Unfortunately, due to a lack of funding, he lost his position and needed to find a new source of income. 

Carl heard about Mission Possible through residents of his building and applied for the Employment Readiness Program. He prefers being on the go and having a routine, so working morning shifts with the Clean Team was a good fit, sharing, “I feel good being able to pick up garbage and knowing that I'm helping keep the city clean.” Carl also accessed the wraparound supports MP offers, including food security programming like hot lunches and a QUEST grocery card, as well as the Healthy Homes Fund which provided him with funding for a coffee table and portable air conditioner. 

Carl has since graduated from the Clean Team and reached his initial goal of staying at MP for longer than six months. He now splits his time between two roles: Tuesdays and Thursdays at Mission Possible's Project Bridge, an initiative funded by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia, and Mondays and Wednesdays at United We Can, where he secured a job first at their bottle depot, and then was successful in applying for their street cleaning team when a position opened up.

At Project Bridge, Carl supports tax intake efforts, helping community members complete paperwork and better understand what support is available. It’s a meaningful job, even if it comes with occasional challenges. Carl has also taken part in street outreach surveys, helping uncover barriers to tax filing. Though the learning curve has been steep, navigating forms, explaining procedures, and making on-the-fly decisions with his team, Carl has embraced it all. He says, “It'll make you feel good, because you'll have a reason to wake up in the morning.”

Though his six-month contract at Project Bridge ends in August, Carl is already thinking ahead. He’s kept in touch with his former peer support supervisor at Coast Mental Health and is hopeful more contracts will open up. While he’s unable to join MP’s Peer Support Training this time due to a personal trip, he’s open to future opportunities when he returns. He keeps in regular contact with his employment coach, and recently updated his resume and cover letter with staff help. “It had been years since I wrote one,” he admits. “[Having an updated resume] made me feel good. I can fire it off to anybody that needs one.”

Carl’s story is one of resilience, self-discovery, and momentum. He continues to be a steady presence in the MP community, sharing information with others, encouraging them to sign up, and always looking for ways to grow. “I’ve accomplished a lot,” he says. “And I’m proud of that.”