Let me talk to you about extraordinary successes.
Literature states that if you are disabled and out of work for six months, your chances of going back are 50%. If you're disabled and out of work two years or longer, your chances of going back to work are zero. Of individuals focused on employment who contact our shareholder agencies, 70% are successful. Over 500 clients per year obtain employment in the Halifax Regional Municipality, and more than 500 clients are engaged in employment-enhancing activities.
Provincially, specialized agencies called disability partnerships report over $10 million in system savings, based on 800 jobs created in 2005-06. Technology is the great equalizer for people with disabilities. Technology can allow somebody to go from being a systems user to being independent.
TEAM Work is also involved in promoting partnerships in the business community. Teamwork has been the driving force behind the Greater Halifax Business Leadership Network, businesses committed to hiring people because it makes economic sense, not because it's charity.
We believe specialization works. The focus of TEAM Work and shareholders on people with disabilities has led to expertise in matching clients and employers. The cooperative promotes sharing of information through successful coordination and dissemination of information with our network of stakeholders and community partners.
There has been a development of specialized, industry-specific work, and skills training programs that have taken place in the hotel, grocery, banking, and call centre sectors. Of 125 people who received training in one year, 85% of them were still employed.