Jack Hadfield is the face of Northcott’s Winter Appeal. Photos: Supplied.
At 19, Calderwood’s Jack Hadfield is chasing the same dream many his age share – a job, independence, and purpose.
Living with autism and an intellectual disability, he’s been able to overcome challenges to build life and work skills thanks to disability service provider Northcott at Dapto – and now he’s urging the Illawarra to support its Winter Appeal to help other young people with disabilities thrive.
Funds from the appeal go towards assisting young people with a disability like Jack gain employment skills and specialist support for greater life and work opportunities.
It’s through Northcott’s ”Skills 4 Life” and “Work & Study” programs that Jack has learnt to navigate public transport, cook, prepare for job interviews, and gain carpentry skills in a bid to find a job and build a life with purpose.
“Having a job would mean that I’m part of a team,” Jack said.
“And it would give me a purpose and routine. It would make me feel important and fulfilled.”
His mother, Tamara, said Jack had connected with Northcott while still at school through its Skills 4 Life program, which made his transition from school to adulthood much easier.
“He started going to Northcott for the life skills program a couple of afternoons a week, and it was a little bit of recreation, a little bit of social interaction, and then they learnt life skills like how to cook or how to get a uniform ready for work,” she said.
“He did that for a couple of years while he was at school, and then he transitioned from school into their work-readiness program.
“It was a good transition for him to go from school, which he was so familiar with, into Northcott, which he was also already familiar with, so that he didn’t have that big disconnect, because he does tend to struggle with big changes.”
Northcott’s Work & Study program has offered him job-readiness training and work experience opportunities at Bunnings and a council, while building his skills, confidence and independence.
He’s gained a food-handling qualification, completed a barista course that has allowed him to work at Northcott’s cafe, gained help in what to put on his resume, and skills in public speaking to participate in interviews.
Tamara said she was blown away by his progress during the past few years, with things like meeting new people, learning a process and adapting to new environments now easier.
Jack has gained independence and is on a path to gaining employment.
“He did a group interview with the council a couple of months ago, and while he wasn’t successful at getting the position, for him to be able to get the job interview was incredible,” she said.
“To be able to go to a group interview and have the skills to communicate with the interviewers and be able to say, ‘I have a disability. I might need some help in this interview’, that just blew me away.
“While he didn’t get the job, he felt more confident in being able to talk for himself, rather than having his mum come along to the interview.”
She said over the past few years, she had seen Jack transition from his comfort zone at school, to thriving at Northcott.
“For him to be able to have the confidence and that slow skill building through Northcott to be able to go, ‘I can budget for my own groceries and I can travel to and from places, and I don’t need to rely so heavily on mum and dad to do everything for me’ as a nearly 20-year-old man, that’s probably his big box tick,” she said.
“He has formed good friendships and has a direction that drives him daily to succeed, even if it’s only 1 per cent more than the day before.”
Tamara said it was even simple things, like having something to talk about at the dinner table.
“We found after he left school, Jack felt like he didn’t have anything to talk about,” she said.
“Having Northcott there for him to have something different happening every day and have something to discuss at dinner time with the rest of the family, that, to him, has been invaluable.
“It helps him feel like he’s part of the community as well.”
Northcott is an NDIS service provider supporting children and adults with a disability to have independence and social inclusion through allied health and clinical services, group support services, and housing and independent living options.
It educates employers about the issues facing young school leavers with a disability and increases the number of young people successfully transitioning from school to meaningful study and employment.
To support Northcott’s Winter Appeal, donate before the end of the financial year.
