The Campbell River and District Association for Community Living is launching a new business - one that will provide a valuable service to the community as well as employment for adults with developmental disabilities.
The Association's latest venture - Skyline Productions Confidential Paper Shredding - came to be thanks to some creative thinking and a grant from The Vancouver Foundation. Maureen Brinson, supervisor for the Association's Supported Employment program, said two adults are currently being trained to operate a commercial paper shredder, purchased with funds from the Vancouver Foundation. The new paper shredding business is the latest in a long line of successful Association programs aimed at linking local adults who have developmental disabilities with jobs. Brinson said having work has a huge impact on the Association's clients.
"Employment means so much," she said.
The Association's executive director Greg Hill agrees.
"Having a job is huge," Hill said. "It's so totally empowering for our clients. It gives them the dignity of meaningful work for meaningful pay."
Skyline Productions Confidential Paper Shredding is starting out with two employees, but the Association is hoping the workforce will grow as the business does.
"The great thing about shredding is it's a demand-driven business," Brinson said. "If we get the demand, we can employ more people."
Paper shredding is something people with a wide variety of skills can do, she added. As the business grows, she envisions a time when Association clients with driver's licenses pick up the paper to be shredded, while others work the shredding machine. Brinson added that it's important to the Association that the services they offer the public are useful.
"It's really nice not to look for a hand-out, but to offer a service, a valuable service," she said.
Potential customers who could use the services offered by Skyline Productions Confidential Paper Shredding include any workplace or home where confidential papers pile up, particularly as concerns about identity theft are on the rise.
"Anybody that has till tapes, credit card receipts or personal information stored on site would find our services useful," Brinson said.
One local business has already used the service to safely dispose of years of invoices and customer information. Another individual customer had piles of old income tax papers to shred.
Confidentiality and privacy are of the utmost importance when providing a paper shredding service, so Skyline Productions is offering the option of locked pick-up boxes to customers. Paper shredding is available to individuals and to businesses on a one-time basis or as a regularly scheduled service. Weekly or monthly paper pick-ups can be arranged. The small shred size produced by the Model 16-150 shredder provides complete secure destruction of information. 
The Campbell River and District Association for Community Living has a sterling reputation in the province for its work with adults who have developmental disabilities. Both Brinson and Hill say that Campbell River's giving spirit is part of the secret to the Association's success.
"Campbell River's always been a step ahead, always on the leading edge" Brinson said. "We've been really creative with our employment and that has happened because we have an exceptional community."
Hill said over the years, numerous local employers have worked closely with the Association to hire adults with development disabilities. Countless other members of the public have supported the Association by supporting the programs the Association offers, everything from lawn mowing services to litter pick-up to making lunches for local schools.
"The community has been excellent," Hill said. "The public has always offered their support for what we do."

To find out more about Skyline Productions Confidential Paper Shredding, call 250-286-3217 or email shredding,,,cradacl.bc.ca.
Skyline Productions Confidential Paper Shredding is a business initiative of the Campbell River and District Association for Community Living with the support of The Vancouver Foundation. The Campbell River and District Association for Community Living is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to advocate for services and/or provide services for people with special needs and their families. The Association's intent is to enable these people to attain the greatest level of independence they wish and to ensure that their basic human rights are respected.