Healthy Living: The Arc technology manager says his job is like doing a good deed
Ron Black never intended to be an IT man. He wanted to be an artist. But then his father retired from the U.S. Navy and went back to school for a doctorate. Ron’s dad ended up running information services at Johnson & Wales.
“I went to work for him. It was a way to earn money, and that’s how I got started.”
Now the technology manager at The Arc Eastern Connecticut, Ron did attend art school for a while at the Rhode Island School of Design.
“I was always doing some sort of art project (growing up). I did a lot of painting. I started to sell stuff at 16. Not for a lot of money, but I was selling stuff: Landscapes, abstracts. I was trying to figure out where I wanted to be in the art world.”
A Lebanon resident and father of two, Griffin, 20, and Gwendolyn, 8, Ron enjoys teaching his daughter art techniques. “My daughter loves to draw and paint, and I try to do things with her and show her as much as I can.”
Working at The Arc changed Ron’s perspective on parenting. “I think I am more understanding now, and I take more time to explain things to them. Working at The Arc has definitely changed me and how I look at life’s challenges.”
Before joining The Arc, Ron had never worked with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). “I think I was like a lot of people out there. You don’t know much about it because you don’t have any exposure.”
Now, he’s enthusiastic. “This is the best job I’ve had,” says Ron. “I’ve never been happier in a job. It’s just a great place to work. Everyone I work with is wonderful. It’s a fulfilling job. It’s more than making money for some corporate guy. I’m doing it for good. Although I’m fixing computers, I still feel like I’m doing a good deed by going to work.”
“Of all the people we serve,” Ron says, “each person is amazing in their own way.”
Ron’s son is thinking about applying for a job at The Arc.
Kathleen Stauffer is chief executive officer of The Arc Eastern Connecticut. For information on The Arc, go to TheArcECT.org. For more articles by this author visit www.kathleenstauffer.com
