Our 100 best firms are stepping up to help with everything from flexible work schedules and support groups to expanded health benefits and educational resources.
As a baby, Craig Ronowski was a healthy bundle of energy, and it was all his mom, Lori Key, a Marketing and Expense Specialist at First Horizon National Corporation in Memphis, could do to keep up with him. But a few days before his first birthday, Craig began to vomit repeatedly, and his temperature spiked to 104 degrees. Frantic with worry, Lori rushed him to the hospital. That’s when she got the news that would change their lives forever. “Craig was diagnosed with antibiotic-resistant meningitis. The doctors said he might never walk or talk again,” says Lori, thirty-eight. A week later, a shunt was implanted in his brain to drain excess fluid. “Suddenly, taking care of my son became as demanding as my full-time job,” she recalls. “As a single mom, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do both. And I was terrified that I’d lose our health insurance.”
When she told her manager why she’d need time off, he immediately put her fears to rest. Not only would First Horizon hold her job, but her health insurance would remain intact, too. “I was so grateful,” she says.
Lori is among an estimated one in twelve U.S. workers raising a special-needs child, according to research by Massachusetts General Hospital. And like Lori, they need support. Fortunately, many 100 Best Companies, such as First Horizon, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Dow Corning, are lending a helping hand. These family-friendly firms are expanding health benefits, providing flexible schedules, granting leaves, and offering specialized day care and support groups—all to make caring for a special-needs child less stressful for employees.
When Lori returned to work following her leave, she was able to schedule her hours around Craig’s therapy, doctors’ visits, and subsequent surgeries. And she needed the flexibility: It took two months for her son to walk again, and four years for him to regain his speech. Then, at age thirteen, he was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome and also required repeated surgeries to adjust his brain shunt. Throughout it all, First Horizon’s assistance never wavered. “That level of support is priceless,” says Lori.
Giving employees the flexibility they require to care for a special-needs child—or to handle any family matter—is the cornerstone of the company, according to John Daniel, Vice President for Employee Services at First Horizon. “We believe that if you support your employees and do the right thing, you will get a return on your investment four times over,” he explains. Employees are not only able to work more effectively—knowing that their job is secure and that they can be there for their children when they’re needed—but they also feel a deep loyalty to their company.
Special Care
It was day care that made the difference for Luciana Torres, thirty, a Research Associate at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System in Richmond. Luciana wasn’t sure where to turn when her twin daughters, Natasha and Patricia, now three, were born prematurely at twenty-six weeks. Both girls suffered from an array of medical and developmental problems, including speech and cognitive delays, which made their early years a real struggle. At first, Luciana worked part-time and relied on her parents and in-laws to help care for the girls. But when she wanted to return to work full-time, she knew she had to find a day-care center with flexible hours and workers who could handle special-needs kids.
She didn’t have to look far. To her amazement, Virginia Commonwealth’s three on-site child-care centers were designed to support parents with special-needs children.
In May 2006, the twins began attending the center nearest her office. Everyone knew it would be challenging: Both girls grapple with delayed language and motor skills, and Natasha suffers from gastro-esophageal reflux, which requires special feeding help. But Luciana quickly assembled a great support team. “I sat down with the centers’ child-care associates, and we came up with strategies to help my daughters,” she explains. “The day care enables them to develop and helps me work the hours I need to without worrying.”
