I am 30 years old, and I have always lived in Wisconsin. So, I've
always wanted to see different things, move different places.
Hi, my name is Kara Vandenbush, and this is my Humana well-being
story.
When I met my fiancé Jim, I was 21 going on 22. I wasn't really
sure where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do with my life
yet. I was still living at home, but I had dreams of someday being
a home owner, someday having my own family, and I just hadn't met
the right guy.
So, when I ran into him, we just kind of got to know each other,
and he was in a rough spot in his life with the car accident and
being out of work. But he had the same dreams that I did, so I
think that's what drew us together.
When I joined Humana, it was the best decision I ever made. We
found this property. We decided to do what's called an
option-to-buy agreement. We put the money down on it, and then
everything was fine for a few months. I started my job at Humana.
That was going great. Then 2020 rolled around. COVID hit, and it
just took a turn. We reworked our contract with the gentlemen for
the house, the option-to-buy agreement, but he changed it from a
two year to a one-year, which coincided with my bankruptcy that I
had filed earlier. I can't close on a home loan until a certain
time, and when he reworked it, he reworked it to where we would
have had to give him another $10,000 to stick with the
option-to-buy agreement.
I turned to my supervisor with Humana, and I was talking to her
about it. She actually turned me on to EAP with Humana, which has
an abundance of opportunities. One of them that I didn't know was
the free attorney. I turned to them and they really, really helped
me. They guided me in the way that I needed to go and got things
cleared up for me. There was also a program through Humana where
if you needed help on bills or whatever, they would send you some
money to help you out on bills. So, I took advantage of that as
well. I never ever imagined that a company that I work for would
help me financially as much as I did get help.
The biggest decision that I have made in my 30 years of life and
my fiancé Jim's biggest decision he's made of 53 years of life was
the recent move to Jacksonville, Florida. He wasn't able to find a
lot of work in Wisconsin. It was just oddball jobs here and there.
It was helping, but it wasn't enough. We talked about it a little
bit, decided against it, came back to the decision and agreed upon
it. Boom, decision was made, and within 30 days we're residents of
Jacksonville, Florida.
I am looking forward to getting this house unpacked. I am looking
forward to getting some things on the wall. I'm looking forward to
be able get all of that done so I can hit the beach.
The biggest thing that I've learned through my journey is
everything happens for a reason. There's a reason you struggle.
There's a reason that you succeed. That there's just a reason on
the other end of why something happens. It's just a matter of
pushing yourself through those struggles and strife to get to the
other end. There's a silver lining to every single cloud.
