Katie Steffans and Cameron McNamee are trusted with some of the most confidential secrets of Sunshine Coast businesses.
They are employed at Maroochydore Business Solutions, a social enterprise run by Endeavour Foundation, where employees with disability collect, transport, and then shred their clients’ documents beyond all recognition before sending them to be recycled.
They live with Down syndrome and they’re not just ending stereotypes (a key theme for World Down Syndrome Day on March 21), they’re shredding them.
Ms Steffans, who unloads confidential documents to the conveyer belt and is being trained to use the baler, said she has abilities too.
“People with Down syndrome are very nice people,” she said. “They can do anything.
“I love to come (to Endeavour Foundation) and make new friends.”
“My favourite part of it is the bin area.
“We lift the bins up, (the documents) go straight on the belt.”
Before documents can be destroyed, they need to be collected, which is where Mr McNamee comes in.
He said he loves working alongside his friend Mark Swift, who he calls “the big fella”, as they drive around the region together, collecting and dropping off document bins.
“We pick up the bins from the hospital on Wednesday morning,” he said.
“I have a good time (in the van) and meeting new people.”
Mr McNamee’s natural charisma has had an impact on a lot of Endeavour Foundation’s commercial customers, including Ann-Maree Douyere, the receptionist at Sunshine Coast legal firm Griffiths McDonald Carson.
“When we started using Endeavour Foundation for document destruction, Cam came in the first time very shy and I thought I’d just start talking to him a little bit,” she said.
“He knows me now so he smiles.
“He gets excited to see me and I get excited to see him because he’s a friendly face.
“I just try to treat people all the same and I hope that comes across.
“I feel more businesses should employ people with Down syndrome: they’ve got a lot to offer.”
“There’s always a story. This week, I heard he’s got a girlfriend, so that’s really exciting for him.”
Mr Swift drives the Endeavour Foundation truck on document bin collection runs while Mr McNamee picks up the full bins and replaces them with empty ones.
He said working with Mr McNamee has shown him how capable people with Down syndrome can be.
“It’s just like anything in the world,” he said.
“If you give someone a chance to prove themselves, they will.
“Cameron’s taught me a lot about things that I never thought I’d learn, like the empathy that he shows and the love of his family.
“We talk to his Nan and Pop most Wednesdays when we’re in the van and I wish I was a lot more like that myself.”
In partnership with the business community, Endeavour Foundation creates a variety of employment and training opportunities for National Disability Insurance Scheme participants through its network of social enterprises.
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