Putting the positive into your pathways

Everyone has their challenges in life, and Dion’s had more than his fair share.

Struggling with both mental and physical disabilities as well as the responsibility for caring for his elderly parents meant that at 38 years of age, Dion had never had a paid job in his life. It also meant he was even anxious about taking on the responsibility of having a job.

But within just a few weeks of being in the Positive Pathways Programme we’d boosted Dion’s self-belief and skillset to a stage where he was ready for a job interview with South Auckland business, SAS Autoparts.

Dion got the job. But starting a job for the first time in your life meant there were still challenges for him to overcome. Our mentors worked alongside Dion and SAS Autoparts to build on his confidence, work-ethic and efficiency and help him settle into his new responsibilities.

We’re proud to say that one year on, Dion is still going strong at SAS Autoparts. Really strong. He hasn’t had a single day off and looks (he lost more than 10 kgs) and sounds like a different person. 

His manager says Dion is now one of her best workers, and he’s progressed into procurement and quality control duties. He even stayed on at work late over Christmas because “he knew the work needed to be done”.