Recovery is not just about resting in a bed and waiting for the body to heal. At some point, you have to begin rebuilding the strength, balance, confidence, and everyday skills needed to return to the real world.
That is where the therapy gym at Pillars becomes interesting.
Sitting inside the therapy area is a white Mazda 929, surrounded by a hanging traffic signal, a streetlamp, exercise equipment, and other pieces of an outside world brought indoors. It may seem like an unusual place to park an old Mazda, but it makes perfect sense once you understand what therapy is trying to accomplish.
Patients are not only exercising muscles. They are practicing life.
Getting close to a vehicle, positioning a wheelchair or walker, maintaining balance, transferring safely, and learning how to move around familiar obstacles are all part of preparing to go home again.
I have spent enough time here now to understand that recovery happens one small victory at a time. Some days the victory is standing. Some days it is moving a little farther. Some days it is simply believing that tomorrow will be better than today.
The people at Pillars work with patients where they are and help them move toward where they want to be.
And that white Mazda 929 is more than an old car inside a building.
It is part of the road home.
—Jim Hamilton
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