Richard - Success Story of Work and Personal Life Balance

Richard – Success Story of Work and Personal Life Balance

By Jeremy Powell, Self-Advocate Coordinator Interviewer

Richard is in Watertown, CT where he lives with his family.  He worked for over 17 years at a day program where he worked in the bottle room and cleaning buildings.  He would miss his co-workers that he worked with at the day program, but he wanted to move on to a “better job”.  He applied to 4-5 different jobs, one day he applied to Stop and Shop and got an interview, from there he got the job on the spot after being interviewed.  Richard works at Shop and Stop 3-4 days; he works 4-5 hours a day.  Some of his job’s duties are being a porter, he keeps the bottle room clean and brings in the carriages from the parking lot. Richard has been with Stop and Shop since September of 2022. Richard is well liked by his manager and co-workers.  They say that he is a very hard worker and very reliable.

In Richard’s personal time, when not at work he is at home helping around the house by feeding the chickens, he chops up wood and then sells the wood to make more money.  He enjoys playing with his cat, going to the movies, bowling, and shopping.  He also went to the Big E with his support staff.

Richard has one support staff who takes him back and forth to work.  She also takes him to the doctors and attends other fun activities with him in the community.  Richard advocates for himself by speaking up and letting his voice be heard.