Shanny Dawes admits she first blew off the requests to provide help to her from LandAjob, but when she decided to say yes, the Florida resident had her life changed in a positive way.

“I thought I could do it on my own,” she said. “I didn’t need any extra help. I was going to get back out there. I knew it was going to be a struggle, but I was going to do it.”

Well, that’s not how it evidently turned out for the 40-year-old mother of two boys, 13 and 10. LandAjob was there to get her back into the workplace in the medical field. Working with Americans with disabilities, LandAjob helps get individuals get cash reimbursement for work expenses of up to $13,000 over three to 5 years.  They also offer job-seeking resources and work with candidates to find positions.

“LandAjob really help me and opened up the doors and made it easier to transition,” said Dawes. “It especially being disabled or having a disability, it makes it super tough. With LandAjob make it a little easier to walk in and have what you need at your back.”

When Dawes connected with LandAjob, she worked with Kristy Chouset, a job specialist, who made the initial contact with her and then work with her until she found her new job.

“LandAjob reached out to me,” said Dawes. “Kristy, she’s amazing and I can’t sing her praises good enough. She had kept on me and she has been on me for a while now and getting me to accept everything. Without her, I won’t be able to do what I’m doing.”

“We love helping people like Shanny find jobs they love and being able to help them is very important to our team and it’s our mission,” said Alan Hubbard, LandAjob’s Chief Operating Officer. “Kristy and her teammates are very dedicated to helping others get back into the workplace. When people celebrate getting a new job, we are right there celebrating with them.”

While she is glad to be working with LandAjob, Dawes has thought about what it would be like if she wasn’t.

‘It would be tough,” she said. “The reimbursement you get gets you back on your feet. When you have to start over for a job, it just makes it super difficult (with the help).”

“ I pretty much broke my back, so when I went back to the workforce it was quite difficult to get back in the groove of working, especially after being home and having to care for two children. Without the backing I had, it wouldn’t have worked at all.

“They (LandAjob) were in constant contact to make sure you had OK, and you had everything you need, and things were going smooth. That’s what helps.”

Since February, Dawes has been working as a patient service representative for a cancer specialist.

“I love it because I have set hours and interact with different people.” Said Dawes. “I enjoy working with people, so it clicks a lot of my boxes.

“Cancer is very dear to me because my grandmother died of cancer, so it has come full circle,” she said.

Six years ago, Dawes moved from Illinois to Bonita Springs where loves having a pool outside her door and her family is involved in their church.

“The winter before we moved here, I had snow up to my knees and my car stuck in the snow twice,” she said. “We are blessed to live in a place that has a pool in the backyard. It’s very beautiful here. We are very blessed.”

(LandAjob helps Americans with disabilities get cash reimbursements for work expenses of up to $13,000 over three to five years. Resources are also offered to beneficiaries seeking a job. For information, go to www.landajob.org.)