Driving Recovery

Have you ever found yourself sidelined by an unforeseen circumstance, grappling with the uncertainty of your future? Imagine the fear of a truck driver, Walter, who severely injured his shoulder and couldn't drive anymore. His journey of physical recovery also became a journey of mental resilience, as he navigated the uncharted territories of recovery and reemployment. Founder & CEO of ReEmployAbility, Debra Livingston, joins us to share Walter's transformational journey, a narrative that might resonate with many of us.

If you know anyone whose story should be told, please let us know. Email todd@reemployability.com. 

Transcript

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R-E-A-R-E-A-R-E-A-R-E-A Audio R-E-A-audio, r-e-a-audio.

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R-E-A-audio. R-e-a-audio. R-e-a-audio Reemployability, reemployability, reemployability, reemployability.

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Season 3.

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Walter was a truck driver who had a pretty severe injury to his shoulder, so much so that he couldn't drive any longer.

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Now, his first thought when he was injured wasn't well, here's my chance to get paid for sitting at home, or now's my chance to get that remodeling job done while I collect my insurance money, or I'm going to call Smith, smith and Smythe to sue the heck out of my employer. Now, walter's first thought was how am I going to get on with my life and take care of my family? Can you relate to that? Have you ever had something happen that puts you on the sideline, forced you to maybe stay at home, unsure of what the next step's going to be or what you're going to be doing next week or next month? Maybe you were concerned about your own health, maybe you were receiving conflicting information about the future. Now, I've never had an injury at work like that, but I definitely had many of those same feelings that an injured worker has after sustaining an injury around the middle of March 2020. Here's President and CEO of Reemployability, dabba Livingston.

Speaker 1: 1:24

And so it's the same thing any of us would think right, and in fact we all just recently did think that as we went through this pandemic. I think we all have an ability now to really relate to what an injured worker goes through after living through that this experience ourselves. So he was very concerned how am I going to take care of my family? And then eventually he got to the point of recovery where he was referred to our program. And then that was another thing he had to go through was well, what is this all about, and why are you going to have me volunteer in an organization, and how does that help me support my family?

Speaker 2: 1:56

So here's Walter dealing first with a physical struggle, recovering from the pain of his injury, and now suffering mentally because he can't see how working at a not-for-profit is going to get him back on his feet. Walter was a proud man who just wanted to be productive. Here's Deb again.

Speaker 1: 2:13

And so we shared with Walter and we communicated very effectively with him how this would benefit from him, how he would recover and how he would earn a paycheck by his employer while he went through our program. And once he learned about that he softened a bit but he was still pretty skeptical about the whole idea about going somewhere else to actually work. But once he started working at the non-profit organization even though he wasn't driving, which was what his ultimate, obviously his job was he realized how many people in his community he was helping, he was connecting to his community. He recognized what a need there was in his community for the organization that he was working for. He made connections. He made connections and met people that he still engages with to this day.

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When life gives you lemons right and I've always heard that when one door closes, another one opens. Think back on your life. Sometimes it's fun to think about an event or a person that's been or is impactful on you. How'd you get to be in that situation with that person? Many times it's a result of a series of incidences you never thought would happen or be expected.

Speaker 2: 3:24

Did Walter ever think that he would get a shoulder injury driving a truck and then grow closer to his community during his recovery? I doubt it. So at the start Walter was scared and confused. He didn't receive the best communication from his employer so he didn't know the why. But he did what he was asked to do and reluctantly attended his modified duty assignment at Fort White Community Thrift Shop. His injuries were accommodated and he was responsible for the register at the front. As he continued to show up and do his assignment, his skepticism lessened and he began to really understand the value of what he was doing. Walter said working for the not-for-profit keeps me more active than just staying at home. It keeps my mind occupied instead of feeling bad for myself. So how do you recreate an experience like Walter's for other employers in the same situation as him?

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Deb explains. I believe that if you give people the care and resources they need, the rest will take care of itself, they will recover and they will get well. And what I mean by that is communicate effectively, be transparent and educate them on the process. I think one of the things we tend to forget about those of us that have been in the industry for a long time, because we know the industry and we know the workers' compensation, the way things work in the system, we know the system.

Speaker 1: 4:48

Injured workers don't. In most cases it's the first time they've ever been injured, they've ever experienced any kind of a program like workers' compensation. So it's important to really, even on the front end of an injury, before it even happens, for them to know what to do in the event one occurs. But then once it occurs, it's like communicate, communicate, communicate and educate right. Tell them up front what they can expect, who the adjuster is, all the players and the parties, they adjusters, the nurses, whoever else they're dealing with, and how they'll get their medical care. And then they have to understand the return to work process, especially if you're using a company like ours. They really need to understand why. Why am I going to go offsite to go to a nonprofit organization. How does that help me? Because, at the end of the day, they do want to recover, but they want to understand what's in it for them.

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And not only that, what's in it for the community? The chairman for the not-for-profit that Walter was assigned said Walter's been a great blessing to us and a real asset to our community. Although we're glad for him to be recovering and able to reenter the workforce at a better rate of pay, we're truly going to miss him and the contributions he's made to our organization. So an unfortunate injury led to a greater understanding of worth and a significant impact on the community and Walter's back doing what he loves driving his truck. Who knows where he would have been without the support of his company, family and temporary place to focus his time and talents.

Speaker 2: 6:24

Thanks for listening to REA Audio. Now we need you to help us out. If you know someone whose story should be told, please let us know. Email Todd at reemployabilitycom. That email address link will be in the show notes as well. We'd love to have you follow REA Audio on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or Stitcher, wherever you get your podcasts. You can also check out more content at listentoreacom. Remember, lead with the good and have a great rest of your week.