David Copins was born in Boston. After a few years in a military school for kids, he was enrolled at age 14 in The Arizona Training Program at Coolidge. He lived there in a dorm with many other people in the same room and participated in some of their on-campus work programs. In 1970, at the age of 30, after living at Coolidge for 16 years, David left the facility, spent a few months at the Training Program in Tucson, and then moved into a group home where he learned many of the basic skills he needed for independent living. With the help of his sister, David finally got an apartment that he shared with a roommate. Needing more room, he moved to the apartment in which he currently lives. David worked for 18 years as a custodian for a seat cover company, until they moved their shop to a place too far from his home. David gets around town largely by bike, though he was slowed for awhile by some medical struggles. Eye problems now keep him off the bike lanes at night.

David has a strong volunteer ethic. He holds the record on The Arc of Tucson’s Board of Directors as its longest standing member. He volunteered for 10 years at UMC in Tucson, where he delivered flowers and newspapers to patients. He currently volunteers with a Boy Scout troop, including accompanying them on camping trips, and he has agreed to volunteer at the Postal History Museum in Tucson to help with stamp archiving.

David has many interests. He cooks lots of stuff, borrows movies from the library, learned to operate a computer which he uses routinely to work on articles about various presidents. He used to play the accordion, but now focuses on the keyboard. He’s one of those people who can hear a song and pick it out on the keyboard. David sometimes flies east to Baltimore to
visit his cousin or north to Phoenix to visit his sister. He has no other family.

And finally, David is in the process of getting a home of his own. The mortgage has been approved…he needs only find the house. And then he’ll get a cat!

In short, David, who once was given no chance of living independently, now has a full and good life, on his own. He is a valued member of the community, serves that community, chooses how he wants to live, has goals and dreams, and in his words “Just keeps going.