Hello folks,
I know that each of you is coping in various ways with the “new normal” of protective measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. For myself and Worklife Institute, Houston shut down on March 25th, so our building had to close to clients then. The city and State are reopening step by step, although the case rate is still going up. We set up a safety protocol on May 5th, and everyone is cooperating. Next week we will try our first in-person weekly Wednesday workshop and see how that goes. We have two big veterans who will be the monitors. The 2020 Census wants to use our space in July to train their new workers, so we’ll be hosting them.
I have a good article I want to pass on to you from the Human Resource Executive online newsletter: “Why empathy is key as employees return to workplaces.” You can find it at https://hrexecutive.com/author/carol-patton/, from May 29, 2020. The article also has a number of useful links. In addition to our large veterans family program, we are also seeing a lot of EAP clients, and this article really ran true to me. With managers and rank-and-file employees operating under duress from COVID, unemployment fears, the racial strife, a lot of the clients I am seeing are fearful and not feeling assurance and care from their bosses. So as chaplains we can do our best to bring listening and empathy to those we encounter.
If you have resources for the rest of us, please pass them along to us. I wish each of us a good and restful weekend. Let’s stay in touch this summer. Peace and best to you.
Diana C. Dale, D.Min., Ph.D., LMF
Exec. Director, NIBIC
CEO and President, Worklife Institute
Director, Texas Veterans Transition Program
1900 St. James Place, Suite 880
Houston, TX 77056
Diana.dale@worklifeinstitute.org
713-266-2456, 713-963-9456