A new program has helped a handful of Oak Bay High students prepare for life after graduation.
Future Forge, created and administered by the Garth Homer Society, helps teens with diverse abilities learn to craft resumes, look for work, prepare for interviews and write professional letters. The initiative also boasts vocational counsellors, who teach students to recognize their individual strengths, and a job-placement scheme.
Garth Homer's director of program innovation, Adrian Benedek, explained the four-week program was floated as an idea in 2022, after hearing from families, schools and service providers that the transition from school to adulthood can be challenging for some kids.
“It's a very common situation that families and adolescents with diverse abilities don't know what to expect next when they graduate,” said Benedek. “There was a real disconnect and families ... almost showed despair in some cases, and that really raised red flags with service providers ... to look at some sort of a bridge.”
It took two years to get the program off the ground, and since it launched in 2024, it has helped 11 students – seven in its first year and four in 2025.
Dora Tang, who’s set to enter her final year of high school in September, was one of the teens who took part in the program. Her father, Arthur Tang, spoke positively about the supports Future Forge provided – specifically the job-placement scheme.
“That's, I think, the benefit of the program,” he said. “As a family, we have no ability to reach out to these companies, but [Garth Homer] can do that.”
Dora worked as an assistant at an art studio for young children – an experience Arthur explained has helped ease some of his daughter's stress about life after high school, all while boosting her confidence.
“Any time when we mention that in the future she might need to find a job to do some work by herself, sometimes I think that gives her stress and makes her nervous because she had no idea [what to do],” said Arthur. “At least she has this idea now, and after that, the next step is to find what she really likes.”
Jamie Turner, who hopes to work in the food-service industry after graduation, is another one of the program’s success stories. Job placements helped him hone his kitchen prep skills at a restaurant in Saanichton and gave him exposure to customer service and commercial baking roles at the Royal B.C. Museum, 4-Cats Art Studio and Save-On-Foods.
Though the program is still in its infancy, Benedek plans to help Garth Homer expand it to other schools in Greater Victoria – and eventually across B.C.
“Ideally, within the next year or two, we'd like to see this program adopted in all of the high schools that have inclusion programs in Victoria. From there, the growth ideally would go provincial,” he said. “We'd like to see it become a part of that system of getting individuals ready for adulthood, where they're supported from youth ... so there's no gaps.”
