Every July Work Day Brought a New Family to Montville Social Services For Help

"You ask if I cry. I do. Sometimes, when I hear a story from a person who comes in for help. Sometimes, when someone comes in with a donation.”

Like Thursday when an 8-year-old made a donation; ‘gifts’ from his birthday party: “This little boy asked (guests) to bring a canned good for the Food Pantry. That’s incredible.” And recently, a couple that celebrated their wedding anniversary did something similar; no gifts, food instead for the needy. 

“Before I got this job, I volunteered but I never realized the need in Montville was so great. And I never realized the level of generosity of the people of this town,” said Senior and Social Services Assistant Robin Washington.

Robin worked in the town finance department for 8 years and while she said she “loved it,” she was hoping one day her dream job would beckon. And when she learned that the previous assistant was retiring she jumped at the opportunity to switch departments and “make a difference.” And she took a hefty cut in pay, but that was not important, she said.

“My mother always told me when you help others, that helps you. That’s what I believe,” she said.

When she arrived, she said she was surprised to learn that “so many people needed help.”

“I worked right next door (in Town Hall) and I did not know how great the need was,” she said. “And I also found out that’s it’s really hard for a lot of people to walk though that door and say, ‘Please help me.’  I have people coming in here in tears, people whose unemployment has run out to people who are not making enough at their jobs, people that never thought they’d end up here. They come and say, ‘My life is over.’ I tell them, ‘It will be ok.’ We have to give people hope.”

Washington’s supervisor, director of Senior and Social Services Kathy Doherty-Peck described her new assistant this way: “So warm, so caring and that’s what’s needed in social services,” she said. “You know, you can teach people how to do a job, but you cannot teach compassion. She has that. I feel blessed to have her.”

Montville Mayor Ronald McDaniel called Washington “compassionate.”

And for her part, Washington just wants people to know that she’s “not here to judge, just to help.”

“Any of us could find ourselves here. Really, I could be here next month. I’m no better than anyone else. We all deserve to be treated with dignity, respect.”

Filling the need

The Senior and Social Services department offers food, clothing and myriad services for  Montville residents in need. And right now, the agency is in need of clothing for men, women and children, as well as food including proteins like peanut butter and, just in time for back-to-school, supplies for kids’ backpacks.

Doherty-Peck said 2,000 meals were provided for the month of July alone. And 23 new families signed up for services -- in July alone: "The need out there is far greater than people know."

McDaniel said the rising numbers are further "anecdotal (negative) economic indicators."

For more information about Montville's Social Services department, call 860-848-8820 or drop by, Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.