Media room

May 11, 2009

Artist with disabilities designs Assurant Employee Benefits’ 2009 Shining Star of Perseverance award

The award that Assurant Employee Benefits will present to its seventh annual Shining Star of Perseverance award recipient this week was created by an artist who knows first hand the challenges of disability.

Trained as a research scientist, Jerry Hymel’s career as a college instructor was cut short when a tree he was trimming fell on him, causing a spinal cord injury. Following a long hospitalization, Hymel returned to the classroom but quickly determined his condition required a change in lifestyle. Soon after, he began to pursue a hobby in stained glass, which developed into a cottage industry and the formation of his business, Our Glass Studio, based in Hammond, La.

Staff members at the The Rehabilitation Institute of Kansas City, with whom Assurant Employee Benefits has established a partnership to assist individuals with disabilities, encouraged several artists with disabilities to submit designs for consideration as the 2009 Shining Star of Perseverance award trophy. Hymel’s three-dimensional leaded glass star resting on a leaded glass base was selected as this year’s award. It will be presented to Gilbert Tuhabonye of Austin, Texas, who overcame the effects of unimaginable violence and severe physical injury to lead a successful life and inspire others. Going forward, each year’s award design will be unique and created by another artist who has experienced disability.

About Assurant Employee Benefits
Assurant Employee Benefits specializes in quality employee benefits and services, including long-term and short-term disability, life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance, dental coverage, and disability reinsurance management services. Assurant Employee Benefits also offers voluntary (employee-paid) disability, life and dental plans. Products and services marketed by Assurant Employee Benefits are underwritten or provided by Union Security Insurance Company or an affiliated prepaid dental company. In New York, products are marketed by Assurant Employee Benefits and underwritten by Union Security Life Insurance Company of New York, which is licensed in New York and has its principal place of business in Syracuse, New York. Plans contain limitations and exclusions. Underwriting flexibility allows Assurant Employee Benefits to market tailor-made benefit plans for groups of most any size. Assurant Employee Benefits is located in Kansas City, Mo. (www.assurantemployeebenefits.com)

Assurant Employee Benefits is part of Assurant, which offers specialized insurance products and related services in North America and selected international markets. Its four key businesses – Assurant Employee Benefits, Assurant Health, Assurant Solutions and Assurant Specialty Property – have partnered with clients who are leaders in their industries and have built leadership positions in a number of specialty market segments worldwide.

Assurant, a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AIZ. Assurant has approximately 14,000 employees worldwide and is headquartered in New York’s financial district. (www.assurant.com)

Media contact:
Jacquie Hill, Public
Relations Specialist
Assurant Employee Benefits
2323 Grand Blvd.
Kansas City, MO 64108
Ph: 816.881.8968
jacquie.hill@assurant.com