“I was born with Autism and hearing loss as a child. I wasn’t sure if I would have enough talent to fight my battles to be able to do what I wanted to do. When I graduated from Jefferson High School in 2008, I started to look for a job to be out of the house and find something to do. Beth Kelso, my job coach, told me about the dietary position at Kingston. I applied for the position, with her help, and was interviewed by the dietary manager. I remember the manager asking me if I would be flexible to work with the schedule that was available, and she asked me if I had transportation to get to work on time. My transportation had always been the public transportation system. The interview went well and Kingston would be my first job. I was taking 3 buses for many years to get to work.
Now, I only use 2 to get to work and I use Lyft to get from the bus hub to Kingston. It takes me about an hour or so to get to work every day and hour to get home, but when I first started working at Kingston, it was really important to me to be on time. I have been with Kingston for 10 years and I have never called off from work and I have never been late. I want to come to work on time and I really want to be here. When I am here, I have fun. I like working at Kingston because I like to help the residents and take care of them and be a role model to others. I like to make sure the residents are happy. Kingston is really important to me… I plan on being here for a really long time.” Anthony Dillard
