Success Story
Until the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services entered
the picture, 29-year-old John Martin was working on a farm in
Calhoun County and living in a makeshift home, a two-room shack
with no bathroom and a sheet of plastic as a back door. The
television and heater were plugged into an extension cord that
was strung from the main house.
“I liked working at the
farm and I liked the people there,”
he said. But his
landlady believed life had much more to offer, even for a man
with a mental disability. She contacted Keith Dear, a counselor
in the Anniston VRS office. Dear knew John’s situation was far
from his “maximum potential,” and learned that he was interested
in moving into town and finding another job. Dear enlisted the
involvement of the Opportunity Center and the ARC – long-time
ADRS community partners in Anniston – and together they
developed a plan to change John’s life.
The ARC located
an apartment John could call home and began teaching him skills
he would need to live on his own, such as doing his laundry,
grocery shopping and managing his money. Meanwhile, Opportunity
Center caseworker Roy Roberts enrolled John in classes that
would train him for a new job. He then approached Fred’s, a
local store, about hiring John. “It was a perfect match,” said
Roberts. “John really wanted to work and the folks at Fred’s
were willing to give him a chance.” At the beginning, it was
just one day a week, with Roberts working alongside John as he
learned his routine as store custodian. “We tried John a little
bit at a time and found out he could handle the work,” said
Fred’s manager Kay Allevato. “He did so well we gave him more
hours and more duties.”
It’s been a year now, and John
still relies on ADRS, the Opportunity Center and ARC for support
from time to time.
“We consider ourselves John’s extended
family,” said Roberts, “advising him on health, family and money
issues. But he is on his way to independence and I’m real proud
of him.”
When he’s not cheering on the Alabama football
team or watching movies at home, John spends his free time
taking part in Anniston Parks and Recreation programs. They have
introduced him to activities like bowling and volleyball and
have taken him to destinations like Stone Mountain in Georgia.
For John Martin, it’s all part of a trip that began as a
short ride from the farm to the city, from life in a shack to a
new world of possibilities.
