Forgive us for the delay in getting my July letter out. It has been perhaps the hardest one for me to write. I have so much to say but at the same time, at a loss for words. On the first Grief & Trauma support call we held; someone spoke about how traumatic it is to work for this company. Those words continue to sing through the forest and echo in the valleys. It is hard to see talented employees cast aside like they are nothing. Like they are not human. I feel survivor’s guilt for merely residing in a hub location. I even wonder if perhaps those affected are the lucky ones that were able to jump off the ship and swim to shore, to a better life. 

While none of us reading this letter have control over this situation. While many are having to make the decision between two awful choices. What Ability can do is help support you in the best way we can.

• We have planned an Ability National Discussion on RTO, for July 18 at 12:00 PM Central. Register here.
• The first three sessions of our Career Differentiator Series are posted to our SharePoint site. We will work to get the replays posted to our public-facing YouTube channel.
• Registration links for the last two sessions of our Career Differentiator Series can also be found on our SharePoint. Feel free to register and forward the meeting invites to your personal email address.
• If you don’t leave to work for a competitor, you can remain an Ability member. Sign up with your personal email address on our externally facing website to continue receiving our communications.
• We received close to 200 comments on our anonymous RTO feedback wall. Thank you all who candidly shared your thoughts. I hope you found it cathartic as I did in reading each one.
• The replay from our Job Accommodations Q&A, considering RTO, is posted now to our SharePoint site.
• Connect with me, or any of our Ability board members, via LinkedIn. Let’s create a network and help each other with resume reviews, references, etc. 

My final thoughts I’ll leave you with today, bring me back to music. Music has always been and is a big part of my life. The song that keeps playing in my head during this time of angst is “Mad Word”. The song was written by Tears for Fears co-founder, Roland Orzabel, while he was unemployed. Roland said it best in a 2022 interview with This Morning: “We’ve always used music to self-soothe. I think it’s important that if something bad is happening, to express it in a way that others can understand. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how close you are to someone, if you tell them ‘This is what’s happening at home…’, they still won’t understand. When you make this beautiful music, I think, it gets into the brain on a different level.”

Green Table, 4th Thursday of the month from 1:00PM-2pmCT

Grief & Trauma Support Call, 2nd Wednesday of the month from 12:00-1:00PM CT

Ann Marie Roger’s Mindful Pause, every Monday and Friday from 9:00-9:15AM CT

Vivek Kashyap’s Weekly Mindfulness Meeting, every Thursday from 2:00-3:00PM CT

Caregiver Support Call for Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 1st Wednesday of the month from 11:00AM-12:00PM CT

Neurodiversity Support Call, 4th Friday of the month from 1:00-2:00PM CT