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.”
The girls have made great strides since Luciana enrolled them at the center, which serves employee kids ages six weeks to five years. Staffers at all three centers are trained to care for children with a variety of disabilities, from autism and hearing impairments to diabetes and heart defects. “We work with each family to develop a plan that may involve visits from therapists, as well as special training and care by our staff,” explains Patricia Moon, Director of Family Services at Virginia Commonwealth, who developed the centers’ special-needs services in 1980. “It’s wonderful to see kids with normal capacities helping those with developmental delays—giving them a hand to stand up or helping them with something they need. These kids are valued members of a strong, supportive community.”
