March 2023 Special Needs Living Akron/Canton

DEDICATION DOESN’T GO UNNOTICED!

Meet William “Bill” Hoiles

Written By Deborah Riley

Back in September 2000, Bill Hoiles was presented with an opportunity to join a work crew at S.Slesnick Co. Paper and Plastic Recyclers through TWi.

TWi contracts workers with Slesnick’s and Bill is a part of that crew. What was supposed to be a 6-month program turned into twenty-two and a half years after being offered the opportunity to try working on the line by the boss’ son. As one would say, the rest is history…

Bill starts his day by getting up at 3:00 a.m. in order to enjoy his morning routine and drink some coffee before starting work at 5:00 a.m. During his work day, Bill often transports parts to trucks in need of repair or works on the line, sorting the recyclable plastic and paper from trash and bailing the recyclables for processing. Bill works 30 hours per week, Monday through Friday. Once or twice a month Bill’s job coach from TWi, Lori Shanower, stops by to check in and see if Bill needs anything. Lori helps Bill with communicating any issues he may have with his supervisors. Bill’s favorite part of the job is transporting parts to different locations. He drives the company pickup truck and enjoys being on the road. Getting up at 3:00am is a challenge, but he wouldn’t give up his morning routine for anything. According to his job coach, Lori, Bill is reliable, dependable, hardworking, and always has a smile on his face! She must be right for Bill to have such longevity with Slesnick’s.

When Bill isn’t working, he enjoys the great outdoors. Bill spends his time walking at parks and bass fishing. His favorite parks are Petros Lake and Sippos Lake. In fact, a couple of years ago, while fishing at Sippo Lake, Bill caught the biggest fish of his life. He reeled in a monster carp that was nearly as big as him. Bill said that he is 6 feet tall, and with the fish’s tail on

the ground, the fish came up to his eye level. It took him nearly twenty-five minutes to reel it in, and he had to walk from the pier to the shore to get it on land. He released the carp back into Lake Sippo, but not before taking a picture with the impressive catch!

Bill, congratulations on your twenty-two years with S. Slesnick Co. and TWi. Your dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed. Keep up the great work! If you see Bill out fishing at Petros Lake or Sippo Lake, stop and say “hi’! Maybe he’ll tell you about his monster catch!