Mission Moment: Getting Back to Work

“Will I be able to work?” Adult patients usually ask that question early in the rehabilitation process. Thanks to Shepherd Center and Genuine Parts Company (GPC), the answer is more likely than ever to be “Yes!”  

For years, Shepherd Center’s unique hospital-based vocational rehabilitation program has prepared clients to return to their careers or explore new ones after an injury. The effort received a major boost in 2023, when GPC, a longtime Shepherd Center corporate donor, made a significant gift to the program, which was renamed the Genuine Parts Company Vocational Rehabilitation Program. 

But that’s not all GPC does to promote a return to work by Shepherd patients. The company also hosts tours of its offices, stores, and auto parts warehouses to give patients a sense of how to navigate various work environments. On one such early fall day, three Shepherd patients rolled their wheelchairs through GPC’s two-building Atlanta headquarters, accompanied by their therapists and led by vocational therapist Laura McDowell, MS, CRC, CVE. They practiced maneuvering through a conference room, supply closet, parking deck, workstations, and even a snack bar and bathroom. 

Along the way, recreational therapist Juliana Heimann, CTRS, and occupational therapist Tori Le, MOT, OTR/L, pointed out ways to make tasks easier and encouraged patients not to be reluctant to ask for accommodations. “This gives our patients an opportunity to get into a real work environment and encounter the challenges they might have,” Laura says, “so that they can start communicating about the accommodations they might need with their employer before they start to work.”

Steven Archer, chief executive officer of JDS, a water and sewer construction company, says he knows he will have “some alterations to make” in his Lawrenceville, Georgia, building in order to resume his position. Jackson Palumbo, who worked in a warehouse, says he is considering what kind of job he might do next. And Bill Gillette, a contractor with the Department of Energy, says he was on the GPC tour because he was “just curious.” 

GPC senior data analyst Bobby Rosenbleeth could identify with the patients as he showed them his workstation. In 2015, after colliding with another downhill skier, he entered Pathways, Shepherd Center’s comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation program for people recovering from brain injury. Five years later, having earned an MBA at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School, he was living in New York and getting on with life when he started to experience vertigo. The diagnosis was a benign brain tumor. Surgery left him with severe ataxia, a loss of muscle control that affected his mobility and speech.

He returned to Georgia and two rounds of rehabilitation at Pathways, followed by Beyond Therapy®, Shepherd’s rigorous, activity-based rehabilitation program. He learned to use a rollator and speak slowly and deliberately. He also received career counseling through Shepherd. “I got a lot of support and encouragement from the people who work there,” Bobby says. He changed careers from finance to data and was hired by Genuine Parts. 

Paul Donahue, chair and chief executive officer of GPC, says that by completing the intense rehabilitation program at Shepherd, people have shown “resilience, focus, and commitment,” all of which are invaluable traits in any employee. 

Every day, Bobby Rosenbleeth demonstrates to his colleagues and bosses at GPC the benefits of hiring Shepherd alumni. And he bears witness to the patients who are touring GPC that, with Shepherd’s support, there can be rewarding work after injury.

Written by Gayle White

This story is an excerpt from “Mission Moments: 50 Years of Rebuilding Lives One Moment at a Time,” a book celebrating Shepherd’s 50th anniversary in 2025. You can explore the full eBook or purchase a hardcover copy here.