Customer of the Month November 2006

Ron Abernathy

Each day is a challenge of sorts for 25 year old Ron Abernathy. Ron learned a lot of his employment skills and work habits from BOST in Fort Smith and is an ARS Supported Employment client. (BOST is a community-based, not-for-profit agency dedicated to developing and providing services to individuals in Western Arkansas who have mental retardation, developmental disabilities and other related handicapping conditions.)

After graduating in Special Ed from Southside High in Ft. Smith (Ron is ADD and has a seizure disorder), Ron went to work for BOST at their Skills Training Center where they manufacture piece goods. This experience helped teach Ron good work habits, make some good friends and most importantly, be competitive when he went after a job out in the community.

In early 2004, BOST placement specialist Nickie Kersch took a call from a representative of Logan's Roadhouse restaurant. Logan's was coming to Ft. Smith and they needed some good employees. The Logan's chain has stores in 20 states and bills itself as a place where people can revisit the classic Roadhouse ways of years past, and brings it to life in a modern way through its welcoming hospitality, attentive service and kickin' upbeat atmosphere. Nickie quickly thought of Ron.

When the store opened, Ron Abernathy was one of the inaugural employees, hired as a silverware roller. He quickly mastered that and was promoted to server's assistant and subsequently to busboy. Store manager David Varner has a history of working with people with disabilities and knows they can make productive employees. That's one reason Logan's called BOST, looking for prospective employees.

David was highly complimentary of Ron and his work habits. "He has good work habits and is on time for work. That's key…having enough employees at work, on time, to fulfill our service demands. That's everything in the fast-paced restaurant business," Varner says. "Sometimes you can see some frustration in his [Ron's] eyes and in his face, but he calmly works thru it," Varner added.

"Ron has a great attitude towards his job, too, and that shows in his attitude. He does anything and everything we ask him to do. What else can a boss ask for from a worker?" he asked. Ron likes his job at Logan's because it puts money in his pocket, he gets to work for and with friendly people, and 'the good food.'

Ron's mother Barbara is a registered nurse and his dad is a pharmacist. They help Ron live in "supervised independence," as his mom puts it. Ron's apartment is about 5 minutes away from the family home but his mother visits the apartment at least once a day. The visit is motherly in that she does what she can to see that her son eats properly, but the visit is also on a professional level. Barbara prepares insulin injections for Ron each day. "Ron can monitor his blood sugar but needs three insulin injections a day. He has fair control of his diabetes but we keep a very close eye on it," she says.

Ron's job at Logan's is hourly, part-time at a most a couple of days a week, but his days are kept full by hanging out with Chuck, a friend he met at BOST and Barrett, who's been close to Ron since third grade. High on their lists of enjoyment is going to movies, playing video games and watching wrestling.

Two-thousand and four was a good year for Ron. That was the year he went to work and the year he achieved a major milestone: he earned his driver's license. "We studied for 30 minutes a day, each day for two or three months," his mother said. "He took the test a couple of times before he passed it and when he succeeded, he was the proudest guy around." She added, "he drove us all to dinner that night; it was a very special day for him and for our family."

Ron Abernathy faces challenges of some kind almost every day. He's shown with perseverance, that's he's ready for those challenges because of his education, training, work experience and just plain living; taking each day, one at a time.