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PART
OF THE FAMILY
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Some
of Concordia's most dedicated staff members are the clients of the West
Island Readaptation Centre (WIRC), a provincially funded organization that
places high-functioning intellectually handicapped people in work settings.
The WIRC workers have been with us since May 1995. With the gentle but
imaginative support of educator Jules Lefebvre, their Concordia colleagues
have come to rely on them and value their company.
The WIRC team receive welfare benefits plus a small cash incentive, most
of which is used for their transport to and from work. But their real rewards,
Lefebvre says, are the pride they get from contributing and the social
skills they learn from those around them. Some WIRCers who started at Concordia
have gone on to full-fledged, paying jobs in other places. Right now, the
WIRCers at Concordia are Michael Branchaud, Marlene Brunet, Norinne Gabriel,
Emmanuel Haddad, Jerry Haikalis, John Hawkhurst, Guy Lindstrom, Marc Paradis,
George Papadopoulos and France Portelance. Here are some of them at work.
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