Disabilities fail to stop employee

Bonnie Brown has reached a milestone.

Twenty years ago, she went to work at Hoss's Steak and Sea House in Altoona.

It was her first job, at age 40, for a woman whose mental and physical disabilities left her labeled as someone who never would work in the community.

"I guess you proved them wrong," said Breanne Davis, a vocational training assistant for Skills of Central Pennsylvania, who supervises Brown at the organization's Courtland Avenue facility.

Brown, now 60, and spends three days a week at Hoss's, wrapping napkins around silverware, then sealing the bundle with a paper band.

She works with one eye, having lost the other to glaucoma. She is diabetic but takes medicine and watches what she eats.

"I don't know why some people don't want to work,'' Brown said. ''I like work.''

Skills is recognizing Brown for 20 years of employment.

Of the 176 job-holding clients Skills serves in five counties, Brown has the most longevity in Blair County.

Skills employment counselor Andrea Moore describes Brown as someone with all the traits an employer looks for in an employee: loyalty, reliability and an excellent work ethic.

Davis said Brown, who spends one day a week working at the Skills training facility, is someone willing to learn any job within her capabilities. That attitude and ability came in handy while working at Hoss's.

After years of wrapping napkins around silverware that left the tops of the utensils partly exposed, the restaurant initiated a change.

''You have to cover the tops now,'' Brown said.

''Even though she had used the same wrapping techniques for over 18 years, and change is difficult for her, she stepped up to the plate and made the transition without a hitch,'' Moore said.

Brown said she doesn't count the number of silverware sets she creates.

''I do one big tub or a tub and a half,'' she said. ''If I could stay longer, I could do two tubs.''

To get to and from work, she rides a Blair Senior Services van.

Brown said she began working in 1988 after moving to Altoona from McKee, where she lived with her parents until they died.

For the last 12 years, she has lived with a married couple, their daughter and two cats. One of the cats, Patches, likes to follow her.

''I have to tell him, 'No, you're not going with me. I've got to go to work,''' Brown said.

On Fridays, Brown volunteers at Valley View Home.

''I go around and talk to people, and we play bingo," she said.

She also likes a weekly shopping trip and activities such as picnics and crafts with friends she calls the Golden Girls.

She attends church services three times a week at Dry Run Independent Baptist Church: twice on Sundays and once on Wednesdays.

Davis and Moore describe Brown as someone who is friendly and gets along well with others.

"Bonnie is a very well-liked lady," Davis said.

Moore calls her a loyal and kind person.

"She rarely forgets a person's birthday or special event. ... She loves talking to people and making new friends any chance she gets."

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.