Breakfast Program: Kevin the King of the Kitchen and Kids

I’d like to introduce you to Kevin. He is 34 and has been living with a brain injury for the past 7 years. Kevin started volunteering at Macdonald House – our home for brain injury survivors – and last fall he moved into our supportive housing. Kevin has been participating in the Bluesheet Clubhouse (a support group for survivors), Kale Kings (a social enterprise for survivors) and most recently with our Hot Breakfast Program. Kevin completed our food services training and has been serving breakfast twice a week at The Cridge Child Care program as part of the team involved with the Hot Breakfast Program.

Kevin is a character! He is a very outgoing and friendly guy – when he was selling chocolate fudge kale cookies at the markets, he was unquestionably our best salesman. Kevin knows how to engage people and draw them in. We knew he would be a terrific fit to work in the Hot Breakfast Program as he also loves kids. Kevin has benefited from this program in several ways. First of all, it has given him structure and purpose for his day: being accountable for his time and arriving at work on time and ready to work is an important part of building his daily routine. Kevin finds it challenging to schedule his time and to ensure that he takes care of the essentials of life (eating especially). Having the responsibility of a job gives him a reason to manage his routine and strive to be productive with his time.

Kevin has also benefited from the program by giving his natural leadership skills a wonderful outlet. He feels acceptance and admiration from the children and enjoys the connection he has with them. This has been a real boost to his self-esteem and confidence. Alongside this, the protected work environment has allowed Kevin to work productively and still be supported to deal with the challenges resulting from his brain injury.

We are super proud of Kevin and the great strides he has taken to make positive choices in his life and in dealing with the effects of a brain injury. We believe that his work with us is merely a stepping stone as he continues to grow and learn new ways of living with a brain injury.