After graduating from Perkins School for the Blind in 2016 – John “Dog House Dog” Shea turned 22 and embarked on a new adventure. Despite being visually impaired and having cerebral-palsy, our goal was to have John be an active citizen and wage earner in the community. When it comes to life after 22 - we discovered that young adults with special needs have several obstacles with securing a job, and are often left with very few options . Finding purpose in life can be challenging to any young adult, but for those who are disabled and turn 22, often find themselves either sitting at home, joining a special needs group or become institutionalized. When asked what John wanted to do for a living, he excitingly replied “sell hot dogs at Fenway Park!”. With the help of his supportive family - John purchased a hot dog cart and decided to start his entrepreneurial business. Instead of Yawkee Way, we decided to start serving hot dogs on the South Shore of Massachusetts and beyond. Our family’s goal is to help other young adults and families with similar passions by either growing John’s hot dog business or inspire other families to start planning early and consider thinking “outside the box” to help their child become self employed and an active member in their community. Not only does John love hot dogs, he enjoys interacting with people, passionate about baseball, motorcycles, trains, ketchup and making people laugh.
