The parking lot outside Repeat Boutique in St. George was filled with music for Disability Awareness Week in New Brunswick.
“It’s basically to bring awareness to the province and to the communities about the needs of people with disabilities, about the awareness of inclusion, and the fact that people do face barriers, and not just physical things like getting to and from a parking lot, but obstacles when it comes to employment, housing, transportation, and sometimes just the very things that we take for granted every day,” Laura Lee Carrier, the executive director at the Community Living Centre.
This event, coordinated provincially by the Premier’s Council on Disabilities, promotes inclusion and accessibility, bringing awareness to the hardships and social barriers people face.
However, these barriers are broken down daily, with the Community Living Centre, whose main goal is to help people who may have a hard time with employment, get jobs.
“They’re here learning new skills. They’re learning customer service. They’re learning to stock shelves and all kinds of things,” said Carrier.
CHCO’s own Noah Carr also works at Repeat Boutique. (Lukas Kohler/The Courier)
Repeat Boutique alone employs around eighteen people, most of which may have had trouble being employed otherwise.
“I like working [at Repeat Boutique] because they help me with learning new skills,” said Marliena Pocate, an employee with the Community Living Centre and Repeat Boutique.
The second-hand store raises funds for their nonprofit through sales on items, which are donated to the store, relying on the community in part to help them raise funds.
Repeat won the Disability Awareness Week New Brunswick Award, and they displayed the award at the event.
“This week we were honoured by the Premier’s Council on Disabilities as the most inclusive employer in New Brunswick for 2025, so it’s been a very exciting week for us,” said Carrier.
Repeat Boutique wins the Disability Awareness Week New Brunswick Award. (Lukas Kohler/The Courier)
This award recognizes continued work in the area of employment for persons with a disability, and is only presented to a few businesses within the province.
“We celebrate Repeat Boutique because we won and we are lucky, because we won, and we are happy,” said Pocate.
