Challenge
*Bailey sustained a work-related injury to her right wrist while working as a package handler. When she recovered with a limited-duty release, her employer explored our transitional work placement (TWP) program. That’s where Bailey met Destiney. Destiney’s primary duty is to identify an appropriate not-for-profit (NFP) organization to host a volunteer with temporary restrictions, until they can get back to their job.
Solution
Since Bailey used American Sign Language (ASL), Destiney’s goal was to identify a site that would allow for a volunteer to be communicated with in ASL. Aside from this challenge, there were other notable difficulties, including: the city she resides in being small with limited NFP sites, lack of substantial NFP options, and the distance of NFP sites from Bailey’s home. Destiney had identified four sites that would be good options, though the volunteer coordinators indicated they would not be able to accommodate ASL. However, when speaking to the manager for one organization, they were welcoming in accommodating Bailey on all levels needed and were excited to have her.
The NFP manager accommodated the communication barriers with Bailey through use of writing directives on paper. Although he was excited to offer this opportunity to Bailey, he became concerned she may not be able to hear the alarms if an emergency were to occur. After reaching out to an additional NFP, a meeting was set with Volunteer Manager, *Lucas, regarding physical restrictions and communication through ASL. Creativity went into their discussions on how communication between Bailey and Lucas could best be facilitated. Lucas stated he would show her around the building and help with anything needed to make this a successful volunteer experience. During this meeting, the transitional work placement coordinator, *Dallys, reviewed all the details to make sure all parties would be happy with the volunteering site.
Result
At the end of the meeting, Dallys reached out to Bailey’s employer, and they were ecstatic to hear that Bailey would be volunteering in her community around others who were equally as passionate about not-for-profit work. Bailey was tasked with sorting donations, cleaning, and organizing shelves with other volunteers. She was even given a “volunteer team” to have other people around her to answer questions and to assist in case of an emergency, that is, until she could happily and healthily rejoin her old team.
*Name changed for privacy purposes.