Success Story Radio

My first guest is Debra Brody, she will be joined by Joelle Cook in segment two telling us how the WorkAbility Program produces student success. I start each show by sharing my mission statement. I feel no matter how small or big one’s success is, if you have over come a challenge, provide a positive business market or have given to the sanctity of life, then I would like to hear your success story. Debra Brody is a Workability Coordinator. She tells us that WorkAbility is a state funded program that provides pre-employment skills training, worksite training and follow-up services for youth (12-22) in special education who are making the transition from school to work. It provides special education students with the opportunity to complete their secondary education while obtaining marketable job skills. WorkAbility is funded by the California Department of Education, Special Education Division. WorkAbility continues to successfully conduct interagency coordination of services, which began with a September 1982 Employment Development Department, State Department of Rehabilitation and California Department of Education (CDE) non-financial interagency agreement. Through a designation as one of the ten best transition programs of its type in the United States, WorkAbility I has received national recognition of its success in matching young adults who have disabilities with employers who need workers. As Debra puts it she has the best job in the world as she sees growth into adulthood and success in career development. Read more about this wonderful program at:
http://www.sduhsd.net/parents_students/workability.htm

I am continuing to explore the success of the WorkAbility Program. My next guest is Joelle Cook is the Manager for Academic Programs with Scripps. Here is an example of a great success story. Debra subsidized a student out of the WorkAbility grant to work at a local (pretty hip) beauty shop. The student is 20 and has Down's Syndrome. She is in the Adult Transition Program. After about 1 year of being subsidized, they HIRED her directly! Not only that, but she gets free, CUTE haircuts as a perk. They could not imagine NOT having her work in the shop. Joelle, goes on to share how Debra reached out to her and since then, they have had nothing bit success. Giving this first hand exposure is a golden opportunity for a win-win situation for students and implorers. As the old saying goes, a mind is a terrible thing to waste. To hear more student success stories visit
http://www.sduhsd.net/parents_students/workability.htm

My next guest is truly AMAZING. Her name is Nancy Michaels from Boston, Massachusetts. Her story begins on July 17, 2005. 7:13 a.m. slowly she opened her eyes to a picture-perfect day. Perfect only for a moment, until she learn the she had been lying in the intensive care unit at a major Boston medical facility for 2 months. She recalls having been transferred after suffering what she thought were persistent low-grade nausea symptoms. She had undergone an emergency liver transplant and coded twice during my surgery––once for more than two minutes. The doctors had explained to her parents that Nancy may not be the same cognitively. Brain surgery would follow. Her husband filed for divorce after fifteen years of marriage - all of this while she lay in a coma. She missed out on some things. End-of-year school activities for my children and my son’s birthday to name just two. Unable to speak because of the endotracheal tube that had been inserted to keep me breathing while she lay comatose. These unexpected life experiences have provided her with a perspective that are eons away from where she was just a few years ago. Nancy had multiple near-fatal complications, four months in ICU, inner ear imbalance, loss of 1/3 body weight and failure to thrive. After six months, she had to move in with her parents. She then had 10 return visits within a six-month timeframe, including organ rejection episodes. Nancy said, “at the end of the day, what didn’t kill me made me stronger, as they say. I’ve gained perspective from my adversity, and experienced unparalleled success since this ordeal”. She learned to be grateful for the experience. Her intention NOW is to provide women across the globe with a message of strength - a sort of “hope revolution” if you will. Nancy and her husband early on adopted 2 children and had one of their own who has special needs. She explains how her life was before , when she had her own business. Her story can be fully read at her website:
http://www.nancymichaels.com

I continue my show with Nancy Michaels. She is a born survivor. I think she must have 9 lives. From what she shares, her parents gave her a solid foundation. She did comment after the show that Faith played a huge part of her recovery. She had many groups praying for her, she wanted me to included this point. She has experienced a liver transplant in 2005, was the topic of the Mortality and Morbidity Conference in 2005, lost custody of her three children, only to fight for them once again. During these trying times, she personally lost everything, and regained it within a few short years. In 2004, Nancy’s long-term marriage broke up and the stress of it got the better of her. In May of 2005, she landed in the ER of her local hospital with organ failure due to a herpes virus that went internal (an extremely rare form of organ failure) and one that was most likely brought on due to severe stress. Within 12 hours of arriving at her local hospital Nancy was transferred to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the following week, she received a liver transplant from a 21-year-old woman in Appalachian, Virginia, who tragically passed away after a car accident the night before. Nancy has 3 words to guide her success: The 3 R’s: Relationships, Resilience and Reinvention. She had to do all 3 to survive. Learn more at
http://www.nancyspeaksout.com