Miss-Delectable
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The Daily World
Janice Dillon faced a lot of obstacles when it came to getting her job. She hadn’t worked in years, had only recently moved to Aberdeen and, most of all, she coudn’t communicate with people easily.
Dillon is deaf.
But the 52-year-old found the job of her dreams and it has absolutely transformed her into an energetic, enthusiastic person with goals.
“I love to do crafts, make jewelry,” Dillon said through interpreter Katie Barr. “But I love my job more.”
Dillon is a housekeeper at Pt. Brown Resort in Ocean Shores. She got the job through Morningside, a private non-profit that connects people with disabilities to jobs, providing them with training and support.
Morningside helps about 15 adults with disabilities find jobs every month on the Harbor, said Gloria Hall, a Morningside consultant.
Dillon was sent to Morningside when she applied for help finding a job through the state. She said she was ready to do something, and she knew she would be good at cleaning — she had helped her parents keep house when they were alive, and today she helps her brother and sister-in-law with housework.
“I love to clean,” Dillon said. She insisted that she keeps her house, a supportive living environment she shares with two other women, clean.
Placing Dillon was a challenge for Hall.
“Most of the people we get have developmental or mental disabilities,” she said. “Working with Janice, she had a different set of needs.”
Dillon had worked in the late 1980s as a seamstress in a factory, but since it had been some time since she’d held a job, Morningside started Dillon in a trial job at the Karr House, a senior housing facility in Hoquiam last spring. There, Dillon helped wheel the residents around or did small cleaning chores.
“I set out the forks, spoons, knives,” Dillon said. “I would put the bowls on the table.”
Dillon was so good and dedicated that Hall found a job as a housekeeper at Pt. Brown Resort in Ocean Shores for her last summer. There, Hall said, Morningside helped Dillon’s bosses figure out how best to communicate with her. Since Dillon couldn’t use a walkie-talkie, Dillon got a cellphone. When she calls her supervisor, Kelly Trumbel, a message pops up on Trumbel’s phone that “Janice needs help,” so she’s able to go do a check of the room Dillon just cleaned.
Because it was impossible to tell Dillon what to do out loud, Hall and Dillon’s bosses drew up checklists for various cleaning chores.
Dillon’s hand flew down an imaginary list, making flourish after flourish — her more demonstrative way of saying, “I love to check items off.”
Dillon started the job with an interpreter, but picked up quickly on the tasks she was supposed to do and soon was on her own.
“I clean the windowsill, I make the beds — even the Murphy beds,” Dillon said.
Michael Smyth, the manager of the resort, said Dillon is a model employee.
“She is very reliable,” Smyth said. “She’s extremely cheerful, and obviously very happy to have her job, obviously thrilled.”
Communicating with the staff is getting easier, too — her bosses have learned some rudimentary sign language and Dillon is teaching another co-worker how to sign.
Trumbel said Dillon is appreciative.
“One time there were some leftover favors from a wedding, silk roses, small martini glasses filled with Hershey’s Kisses,” Trumbel said. “I gave her some and she was so happy. She takes delight in the small things.”
Dillon loves the attention and praise she gets from Smyth and Trumbel.
“They say they are proud of me, that I do a good job,” Dillon said. “It makes me proud of myself, too.”
The job has lifted Dillon’s self-esteem in other ways. When the resort was holding its Christmas party, she went out shopping and to get her hair cut.
“She’d never bought party clothes before, so we had to convince her to buy a sequin shirt, and she got some earrings,” Hall said. “We got her all dolled up.”
Also that Christmas Dillon had money to spend on other people — she said she bought shirts for her brother and sister and a necklace for her sister-in-law.
“I like having money,” Dillon said. Now she’s saving it to achieve a new goal — travel.
“I want to fly on a plane,” Dillon said. “I want to save my money to fly to Disneyland. I want to ride a rollercoaster, I want to go shopping at the Mickey Mouse store, I will tell Mickey Mouse hello.”
Janice Dillon faced a lot of obstacles when it came to getting her job. She hadn’t worked in years, had only recently moved to Aberdeen and, most of all, she coudn’t communicate with people easily.
Dillon is deaf.
But the 52-year-old found the job of her dreams and it has absolutely transformed her into an energetic, enthusiastic person with goals.
“I love to do crafts, make jewelry,” Dillon said through interpreter Katie Barr. “But I love my job more.”
Dillon is a housekeeper at Pt. Brown Resort in Ocean Shores. She got the job through Morningside, a private non-profit that connects people with disabilities to jobs, providing them with training and support.
Morningside helps about 15 adults with disabilities find jobs every month on the Harbor, said Gloria Hall, a Morningside consultant.
Dillon was sent to Morningside when she applied for help finding a job through the state. She said she was ready to do something, and she knew she would be good at cleaning — she had helped her parents keep house when they were alive, and today she helps her brother and sister-in-law with housework.
“I love to clean,” Dillon said. She insisted that she keeps her house, a supportive living environment she shares with two other women, clean.
Placing Dillon was a challenge for Hall.
“Most of the people we get have developmental or mental disabilities,” she said. “Working with Janice, she had a different set of needs.”
Dillon had worked in the late 1980s as a seamstress in a factory, but since it had been some time since she’d held a job, Morningside started Dillon in a trial job at the Karr House, a senior housing facility in Hoquiam last spring. There, Dillon helped wheel the residents around or did small cleaning chores.
“I set out the forks, spoons, knives,” Dillon said. “I would put the bowls on the table.”
Dillon was so good and dedicated that Hall found a job as a housekeeper at Pt. Brown Resort in Ocean Shores for her last summer. There, Hall said, Morningside helped Dillon’s bosses figure out how best to communicate with her. Since Dillon couldn’t use a walkie-talkie, Dillon got a cellphone. When she calls her supervisor, Kelly Trumbel, a message pops up on Trumbel’s phone that “Janice needs help,” so she’s able to go do a check of the room Dillon just cleaned.
Because it was impossible to tell Dillon what to do out loud, Hall and Dillon’s bosses drew up checklists for various cleaning chores.
Dillon’s hand flew down an imaginary list, making flourish after flourish — her more demonstrative way of saying, “I love to check items off.”
Dillon started the job with an interpreter, but picked up quickly on the tasks she was supposed to do and soon was on her own.
“I clean the windowsill, I make the beds — even the Murphy beds,” Dillon said.
Michael Smyth, the manager of the resort, said Dillon is a model employee.
“She is very reliable,” Smyth said. “She’s extremely cheerful, and obviously very happy to have her job, obviously thrilled.”
Communicating with the staff is getting easier, too — her bosses have learned some rudimentary sign language and Dillon is teaching another co-worker how to sign.
Trumbel said Dillon is appreciative.
“One time there were some leftover favors from a wedding, silk roses, small martini glasses filled with Hershey’s Kisses,” Trumbel said. “I gave her some and she was so happy. She takes delight in the small things.”
Dillon loves the attention and praise she gets from Smyth and Trumbel.
“They say they are proud of me, that I do a good job,” Dillon said. “It makes me proud of myself, too.”
The job has lifted Dillon’s self-esteem in other ways. When the resort was holding its Christmas party, she went out shopping and to get her hair cut.
“She’d never bought party clothes before, so we had to convince her to buy a sequin shirt, and she got some earrings,” Hall said. “We got her all dolled up.”
Also that Christmas Dillon had money to spend on other people — she said she bought shirts for her brother and sister and a necklace for her sister-in-law.
“I like having money,” Dillon said. Now she’s saving it to achieve a new goal — travel.
“I want to fly on a plane,” Dillon said. “I want to save my money to fly to Disneyland. I want to ride a rollercoaster, I want to go shopping at the Mickey Mouse store, I will tell Mickey Mouse hello.”