How this store is helping teenagers with disabilities ‘come out of their shyness’ while gaining new skills

Drew Szorvas was so shy, his teacher could not get him to say a single word for weeks. But Drew’s parents say the teen has made so much progress in recent months, it makes them both cry whenever they talk about it.

Chad Szorvas said his son started out being “so introverted, he wouldn’t function.” But now he’s “opening up” and helping customers.

“It blew me away when he started saying this stuff. I’m like — I never pictured him being able to do that,” he said.

“Helping the customers is the part that really stuck with me. Like, I can’t believe he was interacting with strangers.”

But for Drew, he knew all along that he could talk.

“I just like being quiet because it’s easier for me,” he said.

Drew, 17, was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and a learning disability. He is one of more than a dozen teenagers with disabilities who completed a pre-co-op volunteer placement at a Windsor Giant Tiger store.

While the students don’t get paid, they are building confidence and connections while earning school credits.

“He was very shy and he would come home and he’s like, ‘I talked to people.’ And we’re like, ‘what?’ Because even trying to get him to order food was very hard,” Drew’s mother, Jennifer Szorvas, told CBC News. 

“I’m just really proud of him. He’s come a long way. It’s been a struggle, but seeing him coming home and saying ‘I talked to people,’ it was amazing,” she said tearfully.

I came here and I looked over and I saw him talking to a customer and I just broke into tears.– Lisa Balsamo, teacher at Westview Academy

She said Drew didn’t talk to anyone in school, but that has all changed since he’s been participating in the program at the Giant Tiger store.

“The last few months of Grade 8, he talked and he’s like, ‘I finally had something to say, and I knew people would listen.’ And he made the teachers cry as well,” she explained.

“He overcame a lot and that was huge steps for him.”

Lisa Balsamo, Drew’s teacher at Westview Freedom Academy, was the one who approached Giant Tiger. She walked into the store asking the store manager, Taryn Riley-Webb, if she’d be interested in helping to give these students experience.

WATCH: Meet more students participating in the program

Balsamo had not heard Drew speak until he became a volunteer at Giant Tiger.

“I was teaching him a good month before we came here. I would get a thumbs up and a nod and a smile. And then when I came here and I looked over and I saw him talking to a customer and I just broke into tears,” she said.

“He didn’t even speak to me yet, but to see him outshine in an environment like this is amazing.”

Balsamo said Giant Tiger with its many departments was “the right fit” for the program.

“We have grocery, we have fashion, we have home goods. So, that helped a lot with the different transferable skills for the students to gain working with customers throughout the store,” she said.

“Just seeing the growth in watching them come out of their shyness and talking to customers is to me the most amazing thing.”

Riley-Webb said Drew was part of the program when it started with the first batch of kids in September and ran until December. A second group of kids started the program following the Christmas break. 

“It’s been fulfilling. It really fills my heart. You know, you can have a lot of different days. You know, you have good days and bad days at any job … but when you’re feeling down or you have something going on, personally, I come here and I see these kids and it just lifts my spirits,” Riley-Webb said. 

“I get to see the change in them. I get to see everything that they’ve learned and how far they’ve come, and it just fills my heart.” 

Riley-Webb knows what it’s like to have a disability.

“I can do anything. And I want these kids to know that they can do anything, so most people don’t know that I’m hearing impaired. I don’t lead with that and sometimes I have to let people know.

“To me, I just have to find a different way of doing things. It’s just about unlocking that ability. So if you can’t be front facing, if you can’t be in front of a customer, maybe there’s something else you can do. And that’s what we do with Drew…It was finding what Drew could shine at.”

Riley-Webb said the most important thing is that kids leave the program with new skills and self-confidence that they can take anywhere.

It blew me away when he started saying this stuff. I’m like, I never pictured him being able to do that.– Chad Szorvas, Drew’s father

Drew’s dad, Chad, said one thing that really drove home the importance of the program happened with the Giant Tiger Christmas party.

“Drew wanted to go, which I never would have expected,” he said. 

“So, the party was great. He had a great time. He came out, he stopped, turned around … and said ‘goodbye everybody.’ I almost fell out of my truck. I could not believe it. That prompted me to come back within the next week and thanked Taryn. I broke down in tears.”

Drew told CBC News, “It was my first party. [There was] food, drink, friends. I wanted to stay because it was fun.”

Zoran Mitrovski, a co-op teacher at Westview, said Giant Tiger is doing a good thing for the kids and their families.

“The transformation that’s happening in the kids’ lives is unbelievable,” he said. 

“The tears. The parents that are coming in. There’s a gentleman that owns a construction company and he’s looking at his daughter, he says. ‘I’ve never seen this.’ He says. ‘I didn’t think there was anything for my daughter, and she’s working with customers and she’s putting up things and problem solving.’ And he’s never seen that side of his daughter. 

“It’s the first time in their lives that instead of special needs, they’re able to do something … the transformation has been truly incredible,” Mitrovski added.

Alison Scarlett, head of communications for Giant Tiger, said the skills learned through this type of program are transferrable to other areas.

“Not just in a retail setting, but throughout their lives, everything from customer service to problem solving,” Scarlett said.