Special-needs man finds niche serving seniors

John Meyers had tried other jobs, but he seemed to find his niche when he came to Villa St. Benedict.

The 6-foot, 3-inch man, who is mildly mentally impaired, works in the dining room as a server at the Catholic continuing care retirement community in Lisle.

"We looked at it as a real win-win situation because the residents enjoy having John here," said Jo Jerak, director of human resources at Villa St. Benedict.

The enjoyment is clearly mutual. The smiling 22-year-old is attentive to his diners, asking how they're doing and walking in and out of the kitchen to fulfill each request.

"John, can you get me a plastic spoon?" someone asks.

""Sure," Meyers says.

"He's such a terrific individual. He knows everybody here," said Dora Hobson, Meyers' job coach with Little Friends Inc., a Naperville-based organization that serves children and adults with development, emotional and behavioral disabilities.

"He knows who drinks coffee and who doesn't, who drinks juice. He knows everything."

Hobson, who has worked with Meyers for two years, said he has grown in the job.

"He was easily distracted before," she said. "Now he's focused."

She recalled how Meyers was nearly bursting with pride when a residents' survey gave him and his fellow servers the highest score for courtesy.

"He was thrilled," she said.

Meyers started with Villa St. Benedict while he was in a transition program for special-needs students at Downers Grove South High School. His work was unpaid at first, then he received a stipend before he was put on the payroll in June 2006.

He works two days a week from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with his grandmother driving him from North Aurora, where the family moved this spring.

"He loves older people. He really enjoys his job. He talks about it all the time when he is home," said his grandmother, Andrey Ruiz, who raised Meyers with the help of her late mother.

Being brought up by his grandmother and great-grandmother has given Meyers an affinity for older people, Ruiz said.

She said he's concerned when they pull up to the retirement community to start his day and see an ambulance or a hearse.

"He'll say, 'Oh, no,' " Ruiz said.

Meyers gets along with his fellow servers and the other staff, Ruiz said.

"The sisters and nuns give him beautiful cards for his birthday," she said.

Hobson, a job coach for 10 years, said the keys to Meyers' success include lots of repetition so he knows his duties well and a supportive environment. Meyers is treated as part of the group, while his special needs are recognized, she said.

"This organization has given him an opportunity to blossom," she said. "Being here, he's become an adult instead of a child like he was before."

Meyers himself has one explanation for why he likes his job so much.

"I love people," he says.