From heavy metal to Direct Service Professional: Kevin Bennett

Kevin Bennett was a professional electric guitar bass player for 25 years...and then discovered direct service to the clients of CES.

Lander's own David Dempster with Kevin Bennett, a "DSP" with CES

Kevin was just getting off his night shift at Lander's Gary Hudson Center when I was able to sit him down for an interview. For 7 years now Kevin has been helping our clients in Lander to maximize their potential, working primarily with a group of men who live in a group home in town.

"After 25 years playing in various bands around the US, I was looking for something else. A friend of mine who used to work for CES suggested I look into becoming a Direct Service Professional, so I did. It's been almost 7 years and I really like helping these guys".

Kevin arrives at a group home in Lander at midnight and monitors up to 8 clients who live there. He checks on their health, helps them during the night, makes them breakfast, administers their daily medicines and then helps transport them to our Day-habilitation center in Lander each morning.

It's a career the CA native never thought he'd end up doing, but is glad he discovered it. Direct Service Professionals are the backbone of CES' gold standard level of care for our clients. In a rotation of 10 or 12 hour shifts there is always someone with our clients 24/7/365 unless the clients are home or out on an appointment with friends and others designated by their guardian as allowed to care for them.

"Sometimes relatives will take our clients to dinner or to visit family or friends. We assist with transportation or other things as needed."

Kevin likes making breakfast for the group home guys and helping them get ready for the day. He says it's like having another family of brothers to care for.

In his free time he's a outdoor photographer and graphic designer for various publications. His artistry helps him connect with the clients who likewise love music, art, and telling stories.

"The clients often want to go somewhere or do something that isn't covered by Medicare. That's when friends and family really make the difference and help their quality of life. If CES can support them we do - which makes local donors all the more important. Especially when covering some serious expense like repairing a wheelchair or other safety tool."

Kevin works night shift at a local group home but helps settle clients into the day program.

One of the constant challenges is to assist clients who are dependent on wheelchairs and need to move about or be assisted in and out of bed. Despite being a strong man, Kevin recognizes the need for hydraulic assist lifts to ensure the safety of our clients.

"If there was one thing I'd ask anyone who is interested, it'd be to help us replace these hydraulic electric lifts because when they start to break down they're really hard to repair or replace and often not covered by Medicare".

The Arjo Maxi 500 is an electric hydraulic lift system that costs about $5,000 and is often not covered by Medicare. Anyone interested in helping CES purchase one can go to https://www.ces-usa.org/donate