Meet Tommy, an Easterseals Employment Services Success Story

Tommy Rinaldi headshot

Tommy Rinaldi navigates the world with his hands, his walking stick, and the help of others. But being blind doesn’t slow him down.

Tommy was barely an adult when he first arrived at Easterseals with a hunger to work and a yearning for community. At just 18-years old, he was already passionate about working hard and finding new opportunities despite his disability.

That zest for life led Tommy to learn a variety of skills and start work for the first time at Easterseals’ Employment and Community Services in Waterbury, CT. He would clock in day after day to many different jobs. He quickly picked up tasks like capping bottles and organizing screws. One of his tasks included organizing 6 screws per bag for a customer. One day, he noticed something wrong with the screws. Even without his sight, he was able to pick up on the difference in texture and size of the screws enough to call over his manager and correct the mistake. The client was very happy with the correction and Tommy’s self-esteem boomed.

After many years of rewarding work, Tommy decided he was ready for a challenge and decided to venture out into the community to work at a local packaging center outside the organization. Change isn’t easy and it’s even more difficult without sight. Tommy needed to learn to navigate a foreign building, sit in different chairs, practice different jobs, all with the use of his hands. Naturally, it became too much to handle and Tommy returned to Easterseals where his friends and job were waiting for him.

For many years, he was content with his days. He visited the casino on the weekends, read books in braille after days at the factory with oldies playing in the background. Life was good and Tommy was happy.

But one day, an opportunity came up at Curtis Packaging that the team at Easterseals couldn’t let him pass up. He was too perfect for the job and Tommy agreed. The job coaches helped him ramp up his communication skills and taught him how to engage with others in a corporate environment. Tommy was ready to take on the challenge, this time things were different.

Now, like most 50 somethings, Tommy wakes up each morning, proudly puts on his uniform and gets ready to go to work. He gets into a van with his job coach and goes to a corporate factory to peel tape off of boxes, fold them up and mingle with colleagues. His sister, Kate, says he comes home excited to share stories from the day and is succeeding beyond her dreams.

"We could not be happier for Tommy,” his sister, Kate, says. “He has made huge strides with the help of Easterseals”.

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