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When Lisa Helma, now the manager of Vocational Rehabilitation at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, was getting ready to attend college at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, she thought she wanted to become a veterinarian. Helma loved dogs and had always been good at math and science but, after having a part-time position at an animal hospital, she changed her mind. “I didn’t see myself doing this for the next 40 years,” she said.
Helma went to the university’s Career Services department because she needed help figuring out a new career path — and she enjoyed the process so much that it inspired her next chapter.
After receiving her bachelor’s degree in animal science, Helma pursued a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling. She then spent 11 years as a vocational rehabilitation counselor in the private sector, assessing the career and earnings prospects for people who had acquired a disability while working. Her customers were usually insurance companies or law firms that were focused on workers’ compensation claims or medical personal injury lawsuits.
Helma enjoyed her work but, by the late 2010s, she was starting to feel a little burned out. Then, she saw a job listing for a manager of Vocational Rehabilitation at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. “It’s the only job I applied for,” she said.
Helma was hired in 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemic hit, she stepped up immediately to serve patients and build her team.
“I started seeing clients myself at that point,” Helma remembers. “I also spent a lot of time recruiting and onboarding new hires. We had a fairly new team that was still getting their feet under them. For some of them, it was their first job in the field.”
The Vocational Rehabilitation department receives between 800 and 1,000 referrals a year from Shirley Ryan AbilityLab physicians or therapists who think their patients could use some assistance getting back to work or finding a job.
Helma helps all her clients build their confidence, and her vocational rehabilitation counselors and job-placement experts help clients assess their skills, update their resumes and polish their interview responses.
“Helping them get back to work helps them get back to some kind of normalcy,” said Helma. “Many of them say, ‘I’m able to see a future now.’”
Helma has several projects on her current to-do list. One is to reboot a tutoring program that helps young people pass their high school equivalency test, the GED.
Another is to partner with Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s Volunteer Services division to help her clients participate in volunteer activities that expand their skills. For example, someone might volunteer in the hospital’s Technology Center, setting up assistive devices or helping staff with clerical duties, which is an experience that could translate to a private-sector position.
Helma couldn’t be happier with her move to Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. “I love working here,” she said. “I thank my lucky stars every day. I really like our client population and the difference we’re making in their lives."
Though Helma pursued a different career than the one in veterinary medicine she had once considered, her love of dogs has not waned. When she isn’t at work, Helma keeps up with her 95-pound cane corso pitbull mix named Henry. She went to a shelter asking for a calm dog that she could kick back and watch Netflix shows with but, instead, she got a big bundle of energy.
“I haven’t turned on my TV in three years, he is so high energy,” she laughs.