dmatthies / July 7, 2020

Well Badger Specialist: Open-hearted family to open-hearted career

When you talk with Peggy Bezruki, one of Well Badger’s Information & Referral (I&R) Specialists, you’re immediately put at ease by her calm and caring demeanor. It’s no surprise that her demeanor and predisposition toward caring is something that was instilled in her from the time she was a young girl.

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“I came from a big family — there were five kids, and a couple of hardworking, blue-collar parents,” Peggy says. “My parents were very open-hearted people, and so were our neighbors, so it was instilled in us early on that our role on this earth was to serve others and try as hard as you can to do good.” This affected Peggy’s life and career trajectory in a profound way, and she eventually went into nursing — a profession that she held for decades. Along the way, she diversified her skill set with stints in hospital medical-surgical nursing, skilled nursing, working with the elderly, end-of-life, and dementia care. The most recent part of her nursing career included a decade as a parish and faith community nurse.

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“That was really wonderful,” Peggy says of the last part of her nursing career, “because it plugged me into all different types of family situations. It was a great combination of public health nursing and social work — and I’d do a great deal of teaching as well, so it was very fulfilling.”

Another place to lend support

After leaving nursing, Peggy went on to manage the Support Line at Free to Breathe, a non-profit lung cancer research organization based in Madison that has since merged with the Lung Cancer Research Foundation. “It was a little grassroots organization, and there was just so much care being put into everything they did,” she says. “Many of them had a personal connection to lung cancer, and I had been a caregiver for many people who had lung cancer over the years, so it felt like a place where I could lend support and care to others who were navigating a very sudden turnaround in their lives.”

She didn’t know it at the time, but there would be similarities between her work with Free to Breathe, and her current work as an Information & Referral (I&R) Specialist at the Well Badger Resource Center. “The goal of the Support Line was to connect them with resources they needed,” she says, “That could be everything from helping people understand their healthcare options, to simply lining up a ride to get to a doctor’s appointment.” The merger of the two organizations meant an elimination of the Madison office, and when Peggy started to look for a new opportunity, the first posting she saw was for Well Badger Resource Center. You can visit https://afcfranchising.com site to know more about health care franchising opportunities available.

“Coming home” to Well Badger

“I had actually worked with Grapevine (one of Well Badger’s sister programs in conjunction with the Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation) in my role as a parish nurse,” Peggy says. “I was trained in some of the courses, and I had a deep respect for the Grapevine program and the Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation. To work within the same organization felt a little like ‘coming home’ to me.”

The same beliefs that have guided Peggy through her childhood and through the many stages of her career are now applicable to her work at Well Badger. “We have to help each other, especially as women and families, to move forward,” she says. “We have to keep ourselves, and our families as healthy as we can, and move into the next day even stronger — and the way Well Badger helps is to provide information and resources. That information can help families make informed decisions about how to lift themselves up and out of whatever challenge they might be facing at the moment.”

One call or connection — so many resources

The gift of Well Badger, Peggy says, is two-fold. “It’s only one call you need to make,” she says. “One call — or connection — that can lead to a connection with so many resources. And, it’s an empathetic one-on-one contact with someone on the other end of that line who actively wants to see the women in their families lifted up. Men, too! I’ve spoken to fathers and grandparents, and these resources are there for them as well — it’s just that women and their families are often left with the biggest challenges.”

Taking it one challenge at a time

From the calls and inquiries that Peggy fields on a daily basis, there are no shortage of challenges, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Unemployment is a huge puzzle for many people in Wisconsin — how you apply for it, when you’ll get the money. The most common right now is food assistance — and that includes formula for babies. Health insurance, mental health questions, resources for children and youth with special healthcare needs, housing — all of these things were concerns before, but they’ve been elevated because of the effects of COVID-19.”

No matter the situation, Peggy says that as bicycle accident cases are raising in recent days people can contact attorneys for Riverside bicycle accident injury cases it all starts with listening and asking the right questions. When individuals contact Well Badger, they’re often thinking about their singular, most pressing concern — but when she and the other I&R Specialists start to have a conversation, there are usually several key issues at play. “When there are so many things going on around you, it gets muddled — you don’t always know where to begin.” she says. “So, we listen to the whole story, and break it down so that the person calling can then prioritize their needs. That guides us to the resources they need most at this time.

For Peggy, the opportunity to connect people with the information and resources they need is one she holds in high regard. “It’s an honor to have someone call and be willing to share their questions and concerns with you. That’s the sacred space — the connection between two human beings. And, we lift each other up. They lift me up, and I hope I lift them up with resources, and a caring voice.”

The Well Badger Resource Center is open Monday-Friday, 7 AM – 6 PM.

Contact us. We’re here to listen and help.