Growing up in Detroit, Kenneth found a strong sense of community within his neighborhood. He grew up spending time with friends and playing basketball. But in high school, Kenneth navigated a series of illnesses. Not having health insurance complicated the situation, and it took him more than a year to discover why he continued to get sick: He had kidney disease and needed dialysis.

Kenneth’s experience highlights how many people with kidney disease “crash” into treatment urgently—without knowing they had been living with kidney disease until they reached kidney failure.

“I was overwhelmed, probably depressed, confused,” he remembers about starting dialysis. “It was extremely overwhelming.”

In 2017, Kenneth received the gift of transplant, bringing with it renewed energy and focus.

Still, he remembered the stress and emotion of navigating dialysis as a young adult and felt the pull to support others in similar situations. It led him to reach out to one of his childhood friends, Jason, to discuss working with Jason at DaVita. Jason was quick to encourage Kenneth, and in 2024, Kenneth started as a patient care technician.

“He knows exactly what those patients are going through,” Jason shares. “We all talk about understanding, but he can truly say that he understands what these patients are going through because he’s been through it.”

Today, Kenneth continues to lean on his own experience with kidney disease as he educates patients on managing kidney health, treatment options and more — as well as providing the emotional support he wished he had when he first started dialysis himself:

 “I think my life would’ve been different when I first got diagnosed if I had somebody like me just to let me know it was okay. I try to use those experiences…to give patients more encouragement to do better.”