CATALYST - No Two Employment Paths The Same

07/24/2026

Today we want to highlight and celebrate a successful employer/employee partnership!!!

Levi is a young man on the autism spectrum. He had struggled to find work as he mostly uses non-verbal communication. However, he had demonstrated a clear aptitude for focused effort, especially in organizing, filing, food prep, etc.

In May, CATALYST approached Cookie Crimes and had a conversation about the potential of Levi joining their team. Owners Riley and Diana Walburger immediately saw Levi's potential, and decided to give him an opportunity.

"Hiring Levi immediately solved a problem for us. We package large orders of cookies - sometimes fielding orders of several hundred dozen cookies - and we found it difficult to make the time to prepare these orders. Levi came in and did a fantastic job, staying focused and packaging orders at a high volume." says Riley Walburger, owner of Cookie Crimes.

Levi loves his new job. He has bonded with his Cookie Crimes coworkers over music and loves that he gets to be around a team of supportive and positive people. His family have noticed the impact on Levi's life as well. "The positive energy Levi brings home is the true reward of his hard work - a quiet confidence and pride that only a fulfilling job can build" said Levi's parents.

For Cookie Crimes, it was beneficial to have the support of others in making this work. "Working with Levi's supports and with Levi has been great. It was amazing to see the support for Levi and for our business. We would highly recommend that other businesses consider how they can create opportunities for people like Levi, because it has certainly benefitted Cookie Crimes"

Please join CATALYST and SACLA in thanking Cookie Crimes and celebrating Levi's newfound opportunity. Stop by and grab a cookie and ice cream and support an inclusive local business!

06/30/2026

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Our office is closed tomorrow while we celebrate living, working and advocating in this amazing country of ours.

We will be back in the office Thursday, July 2nd with our normal office hours.

06/26/2026

Do you or someone you know have concerns or questions about the changes to AISH and ADAP?

Our colleagues at are hosting an evening coffee and chat on July 14th from 6:30 to 8:30pm at their office - 527 6th street S.

Thank you to Inclusion Lethbridge for providing a platform for this discussion!

06/15/2026

CATALYST and SACLA are attending a conversation with Deputy NDP Leader Rakhi Pancholi and her colleagues in the Alberta NDP caucus.

We posed our question around the erosion of support for people with disability and asked what their party proposes to do to address this.

We will continue to engage with all government and community leaders to hold this discussion.

Thank you to the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce for organizing this event, and to MLA Pacholi and her team for coming to speak to Lethbridge.

06/10/2026

The Alberta Disability Assistance Program takes effect on July 1st, just 3 short weeks away.

If you received a letter informing you of your transition to this program, please take this time to learn as much as possible about this program.

For the many of you we've heard from who are anxious or angry about this change, we urge you to contact our government representatives in Lethbridge and across Alberta.

Nathan Neudorf - Minister for Assisted Living and Social Services/MLA Lethbridge East: [email protected]

Rob Miyashiro - MLA for Lethbridge West - [email protected]

Marie Renaud - Shadow Minister, ALSS - [email protected]

Provides financial, health and employment supports to Albertans with severe disabilities who are able to work.

06/02/2026

CATALYST was able to present at the 2026 Impact Conference in Edmonton. Our session on engaging with Labour Unions aimed to motivate supported employment professionals to dialogue with large scale advocates for workplace inclusion. In our experience, labour unions can be a key ally in the conversation around inclusion and belonging in the workplace.

Thank you to ACDS for giving us this opportunity to speak on this valuable subject!

03/21/2026

Very cool to see the Lethbridgehurricanes and Edmonton Oil Kings wearing mismatched socks for National Down Syndrome day!

03/09/2026

CATALYST was in attendance at the Grand Opening of The Neighborhood Chef this past week. It's always exciting to see new businesses opening, especially as a part of the Downtown Lethbridge Neighborhood.

Thank you to the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce and Neighbourhood Chef for hosting us!

02/09/2026

CATALYST was invited to take a tour of the new Southside Commercial development by Westco Construction. A few job seekers were able to tour the site, ask questions abouts trades and jobs, and were given insight into the industry by Westco's amazing team.

Thank you Westco for always being a supporter of expanding opportunities for those we support!