By David E. Dickman - BUYLINESconsultancy
The youngest of five children, RPC was the picture of health, growing up in a family of comfortable means in Peabody, Massachusetts. After high school, RPC attended a two-year secretarial school where, upon graduation, she worked in the field for several years.
Nobody could have predicted that RPC's idyllic life would take a sudden turn at the age of 30. “I was at work and one of the girls told me I had been found in the ladies' room, sitting on the floor and acting weird."
According to RPC, the doctors ran some tests and arrived at their diagnosis: Epilepsy. "Epilepsy, you have got to be kidding! I thought only kids get that!”
But the seizures continued, becoming more frequent and severe. "My life was spinning out of control." More than two decades of enduring tonic-clonic seizures (commonly referred to as grand mal), treatments with various medications and their attendant side-effects, and brain surgery in 1994 would pass before RPC's medical condition stabilized. Finally, in 2006, RPC felt ready for and wanted to reenter the work world once more. "I wasn't going to sit in a corner for the rest of my life," she said.
Learning about Resource Partnership through a friend, RPC decided to give them a call. That proved to be a defining moment for her as it had been eleven years since RPC had worked in an office setting, and it had been fifteen years since her last interview. "I was so scared. It had been so many years since I'd done something like this - looking for real work, work in the outside world.”
RPC points out that with Resource Partnership she received help putting a resume together and much more, "They are so experienced in the computer world and showed me many things I never realized. Their explanation of things was always very good. And I wasn't afraid to ask questions. I never knew how much the computer was used in sending resumes out to employers. WOW!"
Working with her Resource Partnership employment specialist through tears, self-doubt, worry and depression, RPC landed a job in April of 2006 as a care-giver for Home Instead Senior Care. "My current job situation is doing great. Honestly, I feel I have found my 'niche,' as they say. I just love working with the seniors. I just love them," says RPC.
For RPC, the entire experience has been extremely gratifying and rewarding. She enthusiastically endorses Resource Partnership, and would gladly tell any job seeker, "Don't be afraid. What can you lose? I say, Go!"
She concludes, "I was scared at first. But I found Resource Partnership to have understanding and knowledge about those of us who have disabilities, those of us looking for work and capable of working. Just because we have a disability doesn't mean we can't hold a job, and Resource Partnership knows that! They know that we often make the best workers, the most dependable and eager to learn. And Resource Partnership will be there for you all the way."
[back to top] [back to articles]
Resource Partnership
251 West Central Street, Suite 31, Natick, MA 01760
P) 508.647.1722 Toll-Free) 1.877.YES.WORK F) 508.647.9622 TTY) 508.652.7284
info@resourcepartnership.org
[View Our Sitemap] [Home]
Email the webmaster if you have any accessibility problems with this web site.