By Casey Neill
Fid Constantinides felt like he was “going loopy” while he was desperately searching for an employer to give him a go.
The Cranbourne East man has muscular dystrophy, which is causing the muscles in his legs to break down.
The 49-year-old walks with crutches and has some trouble with his back and balance, but a small scissor lift and a chair are all he needs to perform his job at Milners Repetition in Dandenong.
“It’s going to get worse, but I’m not ready for a home yet,” Mr Constantinides said.
“You want to feel like you’re important.
“For your own mentality, you need to do something.”
One prospective employer asked him to jump from an excavator to prove that he could.
Another flat-out asked “so what’s wrong with you?”.
Dandenong Valley Job Support (DVJS) was the difference.
The non-profit seeks employers willing to give prospective workers with disabilities a go.
“Once somebody’s placed into a role, my role is post-placement support,” Carol Watts said.
“My job is to look after them and make sure they stay in the role.
“When we place someone, we have a team of trainers.
“Show us what you want the person to be trained to do, we assist with that training process so it takes that burden off the business.”
Milners Repetition owner David Gedicke said this was a huge incentive to give Mr Constantinides a go.
“Someone came in to train Fid to make sure he understood everything that was being told to him,” he said.
“They didn’t leave until they were confident that he was safe in what he was doing and I was confident in what he was doing.
“I think it also did help to have a subsidy to go along, too.”
Mr Gedicke said the workers DVJS presented wanted to work – rather than just meet their Centrelink obligations.
“They want to go out and be part of society,” he said.
“I’ve had so many people who are sent to you, they come for the interview, and you can tell straight away they’re not interested.”
He’s even called applicants to advise they’ve landed the job and been met with disappointment.
“If it doesn’t seem to be working out, I can make a call to Carol,” Mr Gedicke said.
Milners Repetition makes turn components.
“It’s mass production of nuts, bolts, pins and spacers and stuff,” he said.
The parts end up in mining, whitegoods, EFTPOS machines and more – “the little bits and pieces that you don’t ever think about where they come from”.
“We’re focused on large volume manufacturing, whereas a lot of engineering places, anything more than 10 is too many for them,” he said.
“Originally, it was my father’s business.”
David trained as a jet engine mechanic, but found the business provided him with a creative outlet.
He’s been there 25 years and bought it from his dad.
