Tony’s Story
Tony King came to ResCare’s Desert Willow home in the summer of 2021 from Canyon Springs Residential Facility. During his stay at Desert Willow, Tony has become a productive and thriving member of the community. He attends Ethos Day Program full-time, where he interacts with his peers and had learned a variety of skills, including cooking and food preparation, money management and budgeting, art appreciation and crafting, nutrition, and making healthy food choices. Tony is currently working on job readiness, as he would like to pursue employment in the near future.
At the home, Tony has shown immense personal growth and continues to make progress toward achieving his goals. Tony regularly participates in group activities with his housemates and assists staff with errands and tasks around the home. Upon his arrival, Tony was classified as overweight and prediabetic. Since coming to Desert Willow, Tony has lost a significant amount of weight and has gained an understanding of the importance of good nutrition. He has also started exercising daily without prompting.
Tony loves to listen to music and watch music videos. He enjoys karaoke and performing covers of his favorite songs, as well as writing his own lyrics and having staff assist with recording and editing his own music videos. Tony was able to go to a recording studio and work with a sound engineer to record his own CD.
Tony is also passionate about modeling and recently saved his own money up to have professional headshots taken. Staff assisted Tony in creating mock magazine covers and a modeling picture book with all his photos. Tony also began attending classes at Antelope Valley College in Fall 2022, where he is studying music and acting. Tony is looking forward to the upcoming semester as he plans to take a music production class to learn more about the process of making music.