Peter Barrett, 47, is a crew member at a McDonald's in Lynn, Mass.

Q. What do you do at McDonald's?

A. I clean the dining room and refill the ice and condiments and help customers. So if I see a woman with a baby, I’ll carry her tray to a table. I also take out the garbage and sweep the parking lot. I’m learning to use the deep fryer, so sometimes I make the French fries. I’ve been here since May 2014.

What is your background?

When I was 8, I was hit by a car and suffered a brain injury. I had a few jobs starting in my 20s, but they didn’t last long. About seven years ago, a state agency that was helping me recommended an employment program at Bridgewell, a place that helps people who have disabilities and other challenges. Bridgewell found work for me. My last job was cleaning the stadium of the North Shore Navigators, a collegiate baseball team that’s part of a New England league.

What are your challenges? What is difficult for you?

Sometimes I can’t remember things. I also need help paying bills. I can do basic math, but I hate it. I can read, say, a text message from Ashley Smallwood, my Bridgewell job coach, that says, “See you at 4.” Sometimes I say things I shouldn’t, so Ashley has to remind me to think before I speak.

But I’ve come a long way. I don’t live at home anymore. Bridgewell set me up in an apartment with another person in the program. He does most of the cooking.