By: NICOLE BRODZIK, Lake Voice Duluth's Traumatic Brain Injury Residential and Community Services (TBI) patients come from all walks of life, some of them born with mental illnesses that are beyond their control; others are survivors of accidents at work or hits by drunk drivers.
The hope of TBI is to keep these patients as a part of the community, in homes where they are monitored and helped, but are still able to live mostly on their own.
Larry Pajari is an administrator and has been a part of the TBI family for 13 years. He’s run individual homes and seen everything from people suffering with suicidal ideation to brain damage to persistent mental illness.
TBI now serves over 150 patients in Duluth and has a staff of nearly 400 individuals.
What fuels this small army is the success stories. While their work and the lives of the patients are filled with struggles, according to staff members, it’s far more rewarding than taxing.
“I see it as we’re helping a great deal of people,” Pajari said. “The residents don’t take a great deal of toll on us because you know that, especially with brain injured clients, you know that the behavior is not intentional in a lot of ways.”
Program manager Katie Brunelle agreed, saying that helping people succeed through the worst times of their lives is what drives her every day.
“It’s hard when they can remember a life before their injury and they think that they can be back in that spot and then it’s really frustrating for them when they can’t do simple things,” Brunelle said. “It takes so much longer to process things typically to get it out. I think that’s really the most significant. The times you really feel like this is why I do it, to see that growth.”
A case that stuck out to her as being particularly impactful, was of a man who came to TBI only able to say two words after an accident.
“He just said coffee and no,” Brunelle said. “Seeing him come from that to say full sentences and see him fully participate in his life again was really amazing to see because you can see so much progress within those first few years.”
But for all the good they see and do, working at TBI isn’t a cakewalk for the employees. The good comes with bad.
“I’m not saying it’s easy day to day on our online staff especially,” Pajari said of the employees who work mostly over the phone. “If you ask them, they have to deal with the brunt of the yelling and swearing.”
Even with the difficult assignments and patients, the staff knows that small setbacks don’t outweigh the mission of TBI.
“If places like this aren’t around, it would be really sad where these people would end up, not that nursing homes are bad, but the staffing ratios in group homes are so much better,” Pajari said. “We can do a bunch of stuff with them from day program activities to Twins game, Valley Fair, going to the library every week, you name it, to keep them active.”
While the focus of TBI is to help rehabilitate the injured or mentally ill, they also focus on community relations. Many of the residents work within TBI or have jobs in the Duluth community. Through their continual interactions, a bond forms between the residents.
“We become a part of their families,” Pajari said. “That’s not the end goal of the program, but it happens. They see us as advocating for them as much as their families or case managers. It’s neat to see, but it takes some time to build that trust.