"Jimmy
and Donnie: two brothers, one life"
Jimmy
and Donnie are mentally challenged brothers who live together under the
care of their brother Pete and his wife Chris. Jimmy was born mentally
challenged, while a childhood accident left Donnie injured. Everyone in
their family refers to the two men, as “the boys” even though
Donnie is 37, and Jimmy is 48. The men both work at Kingdom Project Industries
– a shelter workshop - where they do various light manual labor.
Of the two boys, Donnie is the most active but also, according to his sister-in-law, Chris, the most frustrated. “He’s got a lot of inner fighting, he doesn’t want to be what he is, and he can’t get out.” She says that he wants to be “normal” or mainstream, and that he is the happiest when he goes to work with his brother Pete.
Donnie is on medication to help him with hyperactivity, which he can not control. One time he was sent home from work after hitting Jimmy. To try to make a point, Pete had a policeman talk to Donnie about the seriousness of his past actions, which now has Donnie walking around telling everyone he is going to go to jail.
Besides Donnie and Jimmy, both Pat and Sue, two of Jimmy and Donnie’s sisters also work at Kingdom Project Industries. Sue, while younger than Jimmy, is the more dominant of the siblings and is constantly trying to insure that Jimmy and Donnie stay out of trouble.
This family has experienced a great deal of tragedy this year. Earlier this year the sibling’s mother died. The men were then taken in by their sister, Deborah Dickens, who was murdered early this summer. The murder still remains unsolved.
Of the two boys, Donnie is the most active but also, according to his sister-in-law, Chris, the most frustrated. “He’s got a lot of inner fighting, he doesn’t want to be what he is, and he can’t get out.” She says that he wants to be “normal” or mainstream, and that he is the happiest when he goes to work with his brother Pete.
Donnie is on medication to help him with hyperactivity, which he can not control. One time he was sent home from work after hitting Jimmy. To try to make a point, Pete had a policeman talk to Donnie about the seriousness of his past actions, which now has Donnie walking around telling everyone he is going to go to jail.
Besides Donnie and Jimmy, both Pat and Sue, two of Jimmy and Donnie’s sisters also work at Kingdom Project Industries. Sue, while younger than Jimmy, is the more dominant of the siblings and is constantly trying to insure that Jimmy and Donnie stay out of trouble.
This family has experienced a great deal of tragedy this year. Earlier this year the sibling’s mother died. The men were then taken in by their sister, Deborah Dickens, who was murdered early this summer. The murder still remains unsolved.