Friend to Everyone
Charismatic. Ball of Energy. Positive. Friendly. Even on paper, those words don’t do justice to who Jack is as a person. Every room Jack walks into, he lights it up with his positive energy and ability to make friends with anyone. He has the type of aura that draws people in, and he can remember almost anything you tell him. Who Jack is today is leaps and bounds over who he was when we met him at his first In-Home Services meeting.
Around 10 years ago, Jack started to receive support through our In-Home Services. When we first met Jack, he was very shy, reserved and a homebody. Over a few months, Jack started to slowly come out of his shell as he became involved in activities with friends. “When I think back, Tim [friend] and I went swimming. And we would go places doing fun stuff like that.”
As Jack continued to try different activities, he started to fall in love with going to the gym. The gym quickly became his favorite place to visit when he was with his Reach staff. “I do the treadmill! They just got new treadmills. And I do the weight machines too. I like to talk to everyone and go in there and introduce myself.” The gym really allowed Jack to transform inside and out. Not only did Jack improve his health, but he also started to talk with all the workers and make friends.
As Jack continued to make friends wherever he went, we learned Jack had a knack for remembering people’s names, fun facts and vehicle color. One of the first questions Jack asks someone is their name and vehicle color. No matter the amount of time in between visits with Jack, he will always remember your vehicle color. It is
very impressive!
Currently, Jack is working with Raven, one of our Community Living Specialists. They meet up three times a week after his day program to enjoy a variety of activities. “We play basketball. We play tennis, but I hit the tennis ball over the fence, and she had to go get it. And we go to the gym and then we go to the library. I love it because it’s nice to know Raven. I appreciate her 100%.” Since Raven and Jack have started to visit the library weekly, he has made friends with one of the librarians.
Over the next couple of months, Jack is looking forward to visiting his sister Kim in Florida and getting to jet ski in the ocean, while he is there. He said, “You take your socks and shoes off and then just go have a blast!” In addition, Jack is excited to share this story with all of his friends, including his bus driver Dave, his sister, friends and supervisor at his day program, Katrina the librarian, his friends at the gym and so many more people. He even joked with his friends that he was “getting interviewed by ABC News.”
When we asked Jack his favorite thing about Reach, he named off a hand full of Reach employees. To confirm, we said, “It definitely sounds like you love the staff at Reach.” He quickly replied with a big smile on his face, “Uh, that’s a big 10 four!” Since starting to work with Jack, his transformation has been like watching a butterfly continue to get more vibrantly colored each day you see it. Jack’s love of life and energy is so refreshing, and we are lucky at Reach to call Jack our friend!