Meet Hannah
Hannah Lusthaus is used to a challenge. So, when she was assigned to digitize and categorize the thousands of CDs at the campus radio station, you can be sure she rose to the occasion.
Lusthaus, 34, has Down syndrome. She is one of dozens of people with disabilities who work at Concordia University through a program with the West Montreal Readaptation Centre (WMRC).
“I’m the librarian,” says Lusthaus proudly of her position at CJLO, Concordia’s campus radio station. “I ripped all the CDs to the computer, all 20,000 of them. Now I’m working on labelling and color-coding them by genre.”
This is no small task; she has been working at it for the past five years. Though she used to work at the station almost full-time, Lusthaus has reduced her hours to make time for other jobs on campus. Now, she spends every Wednesday morning at CJLO. She says she enjoys her job at the station, always looking forward to her next shift. And each week, the team at CJLO looks forward to having her come in.
“Hannah’s work here is invaluable,” says Brian Joseph, the station’s program director. “It’s thanks to her that we have a digital archive of all our music. Plus, she’s a joy to work with.”
But cataloguing music isn’t all Lusthaus does at Concordia. In fact, she currently has three other jobs that keep her busy during the rest of the week.
One of them is in a biology lab in the Richard J. Renaud Science Complex on Loyola Campus. There, she cleans up after classes and prepares the material for the next group of students.
“Hannah has built great relationships with many of the people she works with here at Concordia,” says James Allan, her work supervisor from the WMRC. “It’s important because she has people to talk to, not only about her job but about more personal issues as well. It’s a very positive environment for Hannah.”
Lusthaus’s favourite job at Concordia is with the Stingers men’s basketball team. She manages the scoreboard and the time clock at their practices and home games. “This is the best part of working here,” says Hannah of her job with the Stingers. “The coach is great. The players are great. I love being with them.”
At the moment, Hannah is also filling in for one of her peers, disposing of multitudes of confidential documents in the psychology department. Shredding paper, destroying audiotape, no task is too daunting for Hannah. She takes it on with a smile.
Anyone who meets Hannah will agree that her joie-de-vivre is contagious. This year, Montrealers got to see it first-hand on CBC television when Hannah was named a Montrealer of the Week for her work with the Stingers’ basketball team. Hannah also received an award at the annual Stingers banquet for her work with the team. One thing is certain: her hard work doesn’t go unnoticed.
“I love basketball and I love music, so I love what I do at Concordia,” says Lusthaus before she runs to catch her bus. “I’m very happy working here.”
And by the sounds of things, everyone she works with is very happy to have her.
Watch Lusthaus's video as Montrealer of the Week:
Related links:
• CJLO
• West Montreal Readaptation Centre
• Concordia Stingers men's basketball